Bloodstained Ring
by Freak-With-Issues
Summary: When everything around you tells you to give up and pull the trigger of the gun pressed to your head, put it down and prove the world you're worth something. Sakura fights the odds, working on her physical strength in an attempt to fix her emotional weakness. Lemon. Abuse. Violence.
1. Touch of Blue

Sakura bounced on the balls of her feet, slamming first her right then her left fist into the punching bag. She didn't even allow herself a drop of self-pride when the chain holding up the bag snapped, the heavy bag crashing to the floor with a loud slam.

"Cheap shit." She grumbled, moving onto the next available bag to continue to work on her punches. She had spent the last hour on her kicks, and was now switching over to strengthening her hands. She shook her head back and forth as she punched, pumping herself as the music from her beaten iPod flooded into her ears and kept her movements fast and precise. Though her kicks were stronger, punches gave her more of a rush when they connected with the body of her opponent. She took a break, stepping away from the bag with a sigh and walking over to the benches where her bag was. She dug through it, pulling out a water bottle and chugging down half of it in a quick motion. As she did so, she surveyed her body. She was extremely muscular compared to most girls that were fifteen. Most of them were more focused on their damn make up than 'icky' muscle.

Other than the remaining bruising on her jaw from a hard uppercut she had gotten while practicing with one of the guys at the gym, she was actually clear of injuries. She smiled. Without any injuries, she would be able to take on another one of the guys in a practice fight. While she preferred real fights, she was still being considered a rookie despite her skills and wasn't allowed to officially participate.

She took pulled out her headphones, gathered her stuff, and jammed it into her bag, giving the occasional nod to someone as she walked through the falling apart gym that she practically lived at. A friend of her father's owned the place and allowed her to stay as long as she wanted since he knew her father well enough to understand her wanting to stay away from home. She owed hundreds of nights under a roof to that man and that was the only reason she hadn't knocked his lights out for keeping her out of the official ring. Well, not really official since the fighting was done in an illegal club where several people died a year because a fight only ended when a fighter tapped out, but not counting that…

She entered Joel's office and dropped her bag in a chair across from the one Joel was seated in behind his desk, eyeing her carefully.  
>"Just a bruise from that uppercut. Set me up for a fight." She was always pretty blunt about what she wanted, not dancing around her point. Joel simply nodded, standing up and not even glancing back at her as she followed him back out into the gym where he looked around for a moment.<p>

"Naruto, Kiba, get out of the ring." He snapped, opening up the ring for her fight. The two boys did as they were told, quickly moving out of the ring. Joel marched through the gym, studying each male carefully, looking back at Sakura, then moving to the next one. Eventually, he stopped in front of a chubby boy with long brown hair that went down to the bottom of his ears and covered his eyes.

"Oh fuck no, not Kankuro. You know he can barely throw a punch." Sakura growled, not accepting Joel's pathetic match. She heard Joel grunt, but he moved on none the less. To her delight he moved over towards the more experienced fighters. He eyed them up for a minute or two, simply staring at them.

"Gaara, Sakura, in the ring." Sakura felt a broad grin spreading across her face when Joel said this. Maybe he was finally taking her seriously. "You want a serious fight, you got one. I want to see you giving him a good fight, or you're stuck with Kankuro for your next three fights." That was high stakes for Sakura. Her fights were the only things that made her happy and threatening to ruin them was walking on the thin line between punishment, and a death wish for the one doing it to her.

The red head stepped forward, his arms crossed over his chest and his jade eyes staring straight ahead. "Do I have permission to use all my tactics?" He asked, obviously doubting Sakura. He had seen her fight before and admitted to himself she was good, but good against him was no match.

"Of course!" Sakura snapped; her fists clenched as she spoke.

Sakura POV

I walked over to the ring and climbed in, ignoring the excited and some scared expressions on the faces of the spectators who included the gym members and staff. My fights were a big deal for some reason and when I fought everyone dropped what they were doing and came to watch. I didn't really care for an audience, just another distraction, but I knew it was a sign of weakness to ask people to leave because they were 'bothering you'. I watched Gaara as he entered behind me, fists raised and his body in a fighting stance.  
>The bell that signaled the beginning of the fight chimed and Gaara wasted no time, moving forward and throwing a fast right that was aimed towards my side. I jerked up a leg and blocked the punch, continuing the motion by swinging my leg out towards him. I managed to land a kick on his hip, but almost instantly his hand was wrapped around my ankle. He held it in a bone-crushing hold, smirking as the sound of cracking emitted from the section he held. I then made a move he hadn't been expecting. I just dropped to the ground, my back slamming against the mat. I used the foot in his hold to flip him over my body. I moved swiftly, getting over him and wrapping my legs around his neck. I was hoping he would pass out and give the fight a nice ending, but he obviously had other plans. He bucked upwards, throwing me forward and slamming my head into his. I was dizzy and dazed for a couple seconds and he took the opportunity. He moved out from under me and started kicking me ruthlessly. I heard, with a sickening crunch, several of my ribs give way under his kicks. That infuriated me. I was going to have to take longer breather between exercises because of this dumb injury. I was on my feet in a second, ignoring the searing pain in my chest. I thrust out a fist, landing a punch on his jaw with a satisfying crack. He then returned the favor, punching my upper arm to weaken my punches.<p>

This continued on for several minutes, us exchanging punches. I was going for an uppercut, similar to the one I had received in my previous fight, but in going this I left my already injured side open. He was faster than I expected and in a second his foot knocked me to the floor, a muffled scream escaping my lips as I bit down on them. He then smashed his foot into my head, stars and darkness creeping into my vision. Another ding echoed through the ring, signaling the match was over.

A blond was instantly by my side, lifting me up and putting my arm around his shoulders. Naruto was one of the few people I tolerated, and I somehow even managed to enjoy the presence of the hyperactive fighter. The way he always appeared when I was in trouble may have helped.

"Sakura? Geez, don't tell me he broke your fucking ribs! Gaara I am so gonna kill you in our match later!" Naruto shouted, dragging me over to one of the benches. He leaned my head back against the wall and I let out a low whimper as my aching head gently knocked against the cinderblock wall. "Christ Sakura, concussion too? This'll take so long to bandage up I won't be able to kick Gaara's ass!" He said good-naturedly. I managed to form a small smile on my lips and tried to laugh, but was then sharply reminded of my injured chest. I sucked in a breath and tried to stop breathing so the burning would stop.

"Tsunade? Come on, Sakura was in another practice fight. Gaara. HEY! I DIDN'T- okay. See you soon." I barely registered he was talking to Tsunade on his cell before the darkness that had been lingering at the edge of my vision moved in, taking over.

Gaara POV  
>I watched as Sakura blacked out on the bench, that smile she had managed for Naruto on her lips. I had a split lip, a broken nose, and tons of bruises. This girl was better than I gave her credit for. <em>She is never going to get any better if Joel keeps refusing her a mentor. <em>I thought, watching as Naruto pulled off her shirt leaving her in a black sports bra. I winced at the blooming bruising that covered the right side of her chest now. Naruto paused in his work to glare back at me before brushing his hands over her chest to count the broken ribs. I continued to watch as he examined her and still watched when Tsunade arrived and took over. Naruto watched Tsunade for a minute before walking over to me. "She's got three broken ribs, a concussion, a possibly broken ankle, and tons of bruises. Couldn't you have held back a little?" He grumbled, watching the pink haired girl with a frustrated expression.

"You know she would have hated that." I answered, taking the time to study the girl. She had long pink hair that reached her lower back, her bangs swept to the side so they covered most of her right eye. She had extremely pale skin, probably from practically living in the gym, a thin and delicate (well…maybe not delicate) body, and muscles padding her body. One thing I had always found odd about her though, was that she always wore arm wrappings. They went from her knuckles to her elbows and even when she wore long sleeves and wasn't training, she still had them on. "Naruto, what's up with those wrappings on her arms? I never see her without them." Naruto seemed to pale at my question, only adding to my curiosity.

"Don't ask Sakura about them, alright? I can't tell you about them, but I promise to fucking kill you if you ask her." He growled quietly, causing my small eyebrows to rise. What the heck was going on with this odd girl? I had always known she was weird since when she was seven and she would show up at the gym with bruises, leaving with even more. I didn't get how she already had bruises, but I had always shrugged it off. I also wondered why she always became angry at mention of her home and why no one at the gym had ever seen her family. She was a mystery to me. "Okay?" Naruto asked, regaining his relaxed and happy sounding attitude.

"Whatever." I turned and headed towards the locker rooms, grabbing a towel and my bag as I walked over to the showers. I turned on the water and stripped down, letting the steaming water fall to my skin and rinse away the sweat. _What the hell is up with that girl? Hates her family, nobody has ever seen them, has weird wrappings on her arms, and Naruto is extremely protective of her. I knew they got along, but not this well. _I turned off the water, getting out of the shower and putting on a pair of jeans with a black t-shirt. I picked up my bag and dried off my hair with my towel as I walked back into the main gym.

Sakura was still out cold on the bench, Tsunade crouched in front of her with a very concerned expression. I walked up behind her, clearing my throat when I was right beside her. She turned to me and glared. "I'm going to need some help bandaging her up and getting her to somewhere she can sleep. I told Naruto to leave because I thought I could do this alone, but apparently you fucked her up worse than I thought." I helped move Sakura forward and, after some hesitation, moved the half-dressed girl so she was sitting on the bench with her head resting on my shoulder as I kneeled in front of her, my arms on her shoulders to steady her. Tsunade went around to her back to examine it and let out a string of curses.

"Damn kid! She lied! She has still got bruising and cuts all over her back!" Tsunade poked at the bruises, checking the extent of the damage. Sakura, her head on my shoulder and right next to my ear, groaned and pushed her head deeper into the crook between my neck and shoulder. I tensed, but a glare from Tsunade made my muscles relax so that Sakura would be more comfortable.

After half an hour of me holding Sakura and Tsunade bandaging her, the busty old woman was finally happy with how her fighter's wounds were dressed. "Alright, move the damn kid over to Joel's office. She told me she usually sleeps in his chair." I complied, putting on arm under Sakura's knees and the other under her upper back. I carried her into the office, setting her in the chair.

"Is it okay to leave her like this?" I commented, uncomfortable with leaving the pink haired girl unconscious, alone, and injured in the gym.

"Well you red-headed bastard, guess there are some emotions under that shell of yours. And no, I don't think we should, but I don't have room at my place. I always offered for her to live with me, but the brat refused. I couldn't convince her, so I ended up taking in several of the fighters here. Naruto, Shikamaru, and Lee are all staying with me. You got room wherever you're staying?" She asked. Since Sakura was out cold, we wouldn't have to take her kicking and screaming.

"I could accommodate her." I replied, picking up the girl again and walking back out to the main gym. I set Sakura down on one of the benches, put her and my bags over my shoulder, and then lifted her up once again. I was about to leave when I felt a hand on my arm. I turned to face Tsunade and watched her dead serious expression with interest.

"Gaara, Sakura sometimes has trouble sleeping. This includes insomnia, restless sleep, sleepwalking and nightmares. If she can't fall asleep, help her. If she is sleeping restlessly, comfort her. If she is sleepwalking, send her back to bed. If she had nightmares, call me right away." And then Tsunade just walked away, leaving me baffled.


	2. Stained by Death

**A/N: I sound so stupidly giddy, but I got three story alerts and a story favorite! I can't believe people not only clicked on my story and read the whole chapter, but they at least somewhat enjoyed it because they put a story alert on it/favorite it! Thank you so much to violentblossom, cherrys-and-strawberrys, and Raven Ariana for putting me on your story alert! When I saw the e-mail notifications about you guys doing that I got one of those stupid grins you can't wipe off your face. I would also like to thank wierdpony115 for adding my story to their favorite stories list! **

**Disclaimer (which I forgot last chapter) I do not own Naruto**

I walked outside with the pink-haired fighter in my arms, thinking over what Tsunade had said and everything I knew about the mysterious girl in my arms. I glanced down on her and noticed her face held a gentle, unguarded expression that made me chuckle. Sakura always had either an angry, determined, or forced smile for Naruto. I had never seen her with such a peaceful expression. I walked over to my bike and swung our bags so they hung down my back. I then lifted her onto the bike in front of me and then climbed on behind her. With my arms around her to hold the handlebars I kept her from falling off sideways. I then drove off into the night, the lights on my bike cutting through the blackness stretching in front of me.

A couple minutes later we reached my apartment and I climbed off, picking up Sakura again and climbing up the stairs to my one bedroom and one bath apartment. It was close to the gym and small, so I liked the place. Wasn't like I spent a lot of time at home anyways. I dumped her on the couch and took off our bags, throwing hers by the door and taking mine into my room and setting it down beside the nightstand. I walked out the bedroom and went into the kitchen, pouring myself a glass of water from the tap. After finishing the drink I headed to my bedroom, glancing at the girl on my couch one last time before settling on top of my bed to meditate until morning.

Sakura POV

I awoke with a searing pain in my head, my hand instinctively going up to grip it as the pain increased. I groaned and looked around at my surrounding, noticing I wasn't sitting in a torn and beaten leather chair in Joel's office. I was in an apartment with a kitchen to my left, falling apart cupboards and hazardous looking appliances filling it. To the right, in the right side of the main area I was in, was a beaten living room. I was lying on the only type of seating, a bookshelf full of books with the spines turned away on the opposite wall. Besides the couch and bookshelf there was a battered safe on the floor to the left of the couch, looking like one kick would crack it open.

"Where the hell am I?" I grumbled, startled when I was answered by a certain deep voiced red-head.

"My apartment." I whirled around to look at the hallway that connected to the main area, a door on each side of the hall that contained a bathroom and a bedroom. I felt dizzy from the sudden movement and closed my eyes, waiting for it to go away before speaking again.

"Gaara? Why aren't I at Joel's?" I tried to stand up, but immediately fell back against the couch when another wave of dizziness washed over me.

"Tsunade didn't want to leave you so heavily injured at the gym alone. She had no room, so asked me to put you up for the night." I felt a smirk spread across my face as I realized that was the most I had ever heard him say. He then walked up to the couch and stood in front of me. "Do you remember getting up?"

I froze at his words, my smirk immediately disappearing. "What did I do?" I didn't try and lie to him. What was a supposed to say anyways? I had pretended to sleep walk as some new acting challenge my buddies from theater had given me so I'd be a skilled actor in time for Wizard Of Oz in the spring? I don't think so.

He seemed to consider how to word his answer for a moment before he finally spoke. "You kept talking to the air like your father was there. You asked him to stop a lot. Then you gripped at that scar on your forehead. I eventually managed to get you back to the couch." Damn. I fucking hated how I can't control myself in my sleep. Sleep left you open to enemies, made you unaware of your surroundings, and in it you gave away too much.

I decided to play it calm. "So? I talk in my sleep? That mean something to you? Sorry, didn't know you were working on becoming one of those damn shrinks." I grumbled, pressing my hand against the couch to use it as support. I stood up, with a lot of help from Gaara's couch, and began wobbling towards the kitchen. After making the long trek there, Gaara not replying to my smart-ass answer, I opened the fridge door and crinkled my nose at the food. Sour milk was wasting away in the door along with some funny looking orange juice. On the shelves lay some questionably poisonous yogurt, a couple Gatorades, severable oranges, and a jar of pickles. "Interesting taste."  
>He just continued to stare at me, his gaze boring holes in my back.<p>

"Why were you talking about your dad?" I snorted at his question, finding humor in the fact that he thought I would really talk to him about my life when we had barely had a full conversation before now.

"If you know what's good for you, I wouldn't go asking about my father." I closed the fridge door and leaned back against the white appliance, closing my eyes.

"Are you threatening me?" Wow, he really thought I was dumb enough to threaten him while injured in his apartment?  
>"I never said me. Go asking around for him and he'll find you. Trust me, you don't want that." I opened my eyes to glance at the microwave clock, scowling when I say it was already past ten in the morning. "I'm gonna head to the gym. How do I get there from here?" I stumbled over to my bag at the front door, kneeling down in front of it so I could dig through it for a change of clothes.<p>

"You aren't ready to train again." Honestly, I think this had to be the longest conversation he's ever had.

"I'm fine. I promise if I black out I won't practice until I wake up." I snapped, not in the mood to be lectured about fighting while injured being bad for my health and all that other shit.

"I will only let you go if I come with you." I wanted to turn around and knock some sense into that bastard. I wasn't some little kid.

"What are your babysitting rates?" I snarled, finding a clean outfit in my bag to change into once at the gym so I slung my bag over my shoulder and used the wall to stand up. I moved to the door, my hand on the handle when his hand was suddenly on my shoulder with a death grip. I took the hint that he wasn't joking and sighed. "Whatever, stalk me. I don't care what you do with your free time." He nodded and led me downstairs, going back to his normal silence. When we reached his bike he climbed on and I followed the motion, wrapping my arms around his torso and pressing my head against his back. He took off and I felt a smirk creep across my face as the cold wind skimmed my cheeks.

When we arrived at the gym I wandered into the women's changing room, stripping off my sweaty clothes and stepping into the steaming shower, I felt content as the warm water washed away the outer feeling of clean. Inside, I always felt dirty.

After I was satisfied with how clean I was I shut off the water and toweled off my body. I then wrapped my hair up in my towel and dressed. I wore a simple gray lasagna strap tank top with a pair of black mesh shorts that hung down to my knees, a blue sports bar poking out from my tanktop and matching panties under my shorts. I stuffed my dirty clothes in my bag and pulled out my iPod before I walked back into the gym area. I dropped my bag on one of the benches and put my headphones, keeping a close eye on what Gaara was doing all the while. He was just standing there with his arms folded over his chest, shamelessly staring at me. I decided to give him a show as I approached the closest punching bag and began throwing hard rights, strong left uppercuts, and I even threw in a mixture of kicks.

I paused only to change the song on my iPod to "25 to Life" by Eminem. That was when things really got rolling, my movement falling into rhythm with the music to make them smoother and more coordinated. After half an hour I stepped away from the bag, breathing fast and heart rate high. I took a couple swigs from my water bottle, almost laughing when I saw Gaara in the exact same position as when I started. Our gazes met for a moment and he decided then was the time to break the silence.

When I saw his stance loosen and his mouth open I paused my iPod, wondering what weird thing he was going to ask next. "Why are you extremely defensive about your home?"  
>I glared at him before replying. "You're part of this illegal fighting ring, so obviously you don't come from a great home either. I'm betting you live with some shit you don't want to tell other people. Understand what I mean? I'll simplify it; there are some things I just don't want to fucking talk about."<p>

"Why?"

"I don't need to fucking explain myself to you Gaara! If I don't feel like talking, so I don't have to!"  
>"What is wrong with you? Why are you so frustrating?"<br>"I'm sorry for making your life hard when I mind my own business and you decide to suddenly write some biography about me!" I screamed, annoyed with his stubbornness.

I heard the gym door slam closed as someone entered just as Gaara was going to retort and was glad that whoever had entered spared me another question from Mr. On-My-Ass (not literally, thank god).

I turned my music back on, shooting Gaara one last glare before I went back to the punching bag. I was no longer punching and kicking for show, but out of anger, making them stronger and more purposeful.

"Ohayo!" Naruto called, the slam of his bag hitting the floor echoing through the gym and breaking the almost silent atmosphere, my pounding on the punching bag being the only other noise.

When he called that images of a man walking through the front door calling Ohayo flashed through my mind, bringing up memories Gaara had stirred with his questions. I flinched at the memory, fighting to keep such gruesome thoughts out.

"Sakura! I missed you so much! Are you feeling better?" He ran up to me, tackling me to the floor with a hug. I groaned at the pressure on my chest where my injured ribs were being crushed by the overly excited blonde and swatted at his head with my hand.

"Off! Get off me Naruto! I swear if you're not off in two seconds I'm going to show you what castration looks like!" I snarled, grabbing my iPod, which had skidded away from me in my fall, and managed to throw off Naruto. After I did he kneeled in front of me with a pout on his face and his arms limply at his sides.

" But SA-KU-RA! I just wanted a hug from my bestest buddy." He whined, his pout changing to a smirk.

"And I just want to put a restraining order on you. We don't always get what we want." I retorted, throwing a death glare at him.

He then grumbled something about 'Sakura being a big meanie that was no fun' but I ignored him. I got to my feet and instantly felt dizzy. I managed to steady myself, but, with reluctance, admitted to myself I should probably just wait until my head injury was better to train since I was accomplishing nothing training with it.

"I'm gonna hit the showers. I swear Naruto, I catch you peeping this time and you can start digging your own damn grave." I grabbed my bag and headed back to the women's changing room.

After I pulled a bottle of hotel shampoo and conditioner out of my bag I stepped into the shower for my second cleansing of the day, a luxury I usually didn't get once a **week**. When I felt the cold water drip down on my skin as the shower started up, something stirred in my mind, some sort of recognition of the feeling of a liquid dripping down on me. I ignored it, going about washing my body, until I was slammed full force with the memory that was linked to that feeling.

_Flashback_

_Blood covered the room, filling it with the unmistakable scent of death, the promise that grim reaper had visited and not left empty handed. I took shaky steps forward, spotting the silver glint on the floor, the rest of the object bathed in red so its identity was unknown to me. _

"_Momma? Daddy?" I called out, hoping someone would come to me, cover my eyes from the gruesome sight, and tell me everything was alright. I continued to close in on the object that glinted in the light from the open doorway where I had entered and I soon recognized it. On the floor lay momma's big steak knife, the one she used to cut up meat which we only had on special occasions. It was covered in the horrible liquid, its handle barely visible under the camouflage of red. That was when I felt it; a drop of cool liquid fell down and splashed onto my cheek. Though I feared what I would see, I slowly looked up as more of the liquid dripped down onto my face. When I had a clear view at what was above me, I let out a terrified screech. There, her neck trapped in a noose and her body covered in deep gashes, hung my mother, her blood raining down on me._

_End Flashback_

I began to shake in the shower, the long ago locked away memory breaking free from the confines of the back of my mind. I barely registered the change of texture when my side went from being surrounded by air to being pressed against the tile floor. I didn't notice that I had started screaming or that Naruto and Gaara had coming running into the changing room, finding me curled up on the floor of the shower. All I knew was I could feel it, that blood falling on me and forever staining me with death.

**A/N: What do you guys think? I hate to ask for stuff when you guys already put me on story alert and favorited me, but some extremely harsh reviews could help. I do well with harsh criticism. It motivates me to not only improve my current work, but create more. Thanks again for everything!**


	3. Broken Home

**A/N: I know this is shorter than my other extremely stupidly short chapters, but I hope it will answer a lot of questions and fulfills hypotheses. Thank you to everyone who paused to read even one chapter, it really means so much to me! This chapter is for TsukiNokoOokami who put a story alert on my story & also favourited it along with AnimeObsessed1 who put an story alert on this and author alert on me, favourited my story, and review! You guys kick ass! I would also like to dedicate this chapter to TheBlackRose123 (you're the reason I got this chapter done) who put a story alert on my story, favourited my story, put an author alert on me, AND reviewed! That meant the world to me that you enjoyed my work that much!** **Screw Christmas, getting reviews is better than prettily wrapped things any day! I ****would again like to thank violentblossom, cherrys-and-strawberrys, and Raven Ariana for putting me on your story alert and wierdpony115 for adding my story to your favourite story list! **

**Disclaimer: I-no-own-Naruto**

**(forgot this too) **

"I kill you" = talking

_I kill you = _flashbacks/thoughts (flashbacks will have Flashback written above them so they aren't confusing)

Gaara POV

When Naruto and I heard Sakura screaming neither of us hesitated to sprint into the women's changing room and follow the sound to the source of the screams. When I saw her pale, naked body curled up on the floor of the shower, I realized there was more to Sakura than I ever thought. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and her arms were over her head, as if shielding it, and her legs were pulled up to her chest.

"Gaara! Shut off the shower!" Naruto commanded, and for once, I listened. I turned the handle and the water immediately stopped. Sakura's screams continued for a couple seconds before they turned to whimpers, but as I looked at her eyes I realized she wasn't with us. She wasn't dead, but she wasn't in this gym with me and Naruto. She was battling with something in her mind, something that caused the girl I'd always seen as a strong, stubborn fighter crumble.

My view was then blocked as Naruto crouched in front of her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her head up against his chest. "Get her a towel!" I instantly moved over to her bag, digging through it for a towel. I was bewildered at sight of tons of bandages that were bloodstained; some of the bloodstains old and brown while others were a fresh red. A couple of the bandages even looked like the ones she always wore on her arms. I knew fighters cut cut up a lot, but the large amounts of blood and bandages didn't make sense for two reasons. First, once blood was drawn in a practice the fight was usually ended, at least in Joel's gym it was so the fighters weren't too beat up for their real fights. Second, she wasn't in fights that often and certainly not enough fights to draw the amount of blood on these bandages. After what felt like forever of searching I found her pale green towel and went back to Naruto, handing it to him. I tried to peek over his shoulder to try and see if her arms were injured or maybe somewhere else on her body was, but Naruto snapped his head up and growled at me. "Go wait outside."

Since he looked absolutely livid, and Sakura was the most important thing right now, I decided to not risk starting a fight with Naruto looking so protective and dangerous. I waited on the bench outside the changing room, wringing my hands as an odd feeling of concern flooded through me. Eventually Naruto came out with a completely limp Sakura in his arms, a towel wrapped around her pale body and her arms resting in her lap.

He walked over to me and sat her on the bench beside me, crouching in front of her. I then took the time to study her, questions arising in my mind as I noticed the layers of scars on her arms, the scars on the part of her chest visible from where the towel couldn't cover, and a large scar on her right shoulder that I somehow hadn't noticed before. Then again, I didn't often stare at her. Also, because her hair was wet and hung around her face appearing stringy, I was able to get a better view of her forehead and noticed how long the white scar on the top left side of her it was. Her porcelain white skin only made the scars stand out more; some of them white while others were an angry red.

"Gaara, you weren't supposed to see that. You weren't supposed to see her like that." He let out a frustrated sigh, staring at Sakura for a couple moments, seemlingly deep in thought. A couple moments later he opened his mouth again, surprising me slightly with what he said. "Since you did though, I'm gonna answer some of the questions you have, but not all of them." I nodded my agreement, taking the terms of his offer.

"Why are her arms scarred so much?" I had a guess at what the answer was, but I didn't want to believe it for some reason. It somehow made me feel nauseous to think that maybe she had had bad enough things happen to her for her to do that.

"Her dad did that so he wouldn't get arrested." Natruto tried to be short with his answers, but anything he would say would lead to more questions.

"How the hell does that work?" I asked, not understanding what Naruto meant.

"First, I have to explain something to you. Her father was, and is, mentally unstable to put it nicely. He was never very stable, got mad over nothing. Though he was never officially diagnosed, Tsunade is certain he's bipolar. He used her as his stress doll, screaming at her and blaming all his issues on her. She won't even tell me the details, but one day while Sakura was at school, he snapped at her mother. Before then, he had never said anything cruel to Sakura's mother, nothing was ever her fault. But that day, for a reason I don't know, he flipped out and killed her mother. Her father must've killed her mother without much evidence though, because the cops didn't have enough on him to jail him for murder. Because of the police report, I know she was the one who found her mother. Anyways, after that her dad became completely unstable and started getting physical. He beat her black in blue, broke her bones, and destroyed her spirit." Naruto paused to try and wipe away the tears in his eyes, his attempts pointless as more tears came.

"Joel was over there one day to talk to her dad about upcoming fights and who they were looking to recruit. Joel told me that her father asked her to bring them a drink, some sort of alcohol that he can't remember the brand of. She still had a broken arm from the last time her father lashed out so she couldn't hold it up and spilled the drink on the carpet. Then, right in front of Joel, he beat his daughter. When Joel asked him what he was doing he told Joel he was 'Punishing the little bitch'. When Joel tried to report them to the police, her dad slashed up her arms to make her look self destructive so the bruises could be blamed on that too. Those are the scars she hates the most because they are the only thing that stopped her from being saved."

I couldn't find a way to respond to what Naruto had told me. No wonder every time I stared the pink haired girl straight in the eyes I saw something in them. I finally recognized it, terror. I now got why she worked so hard, pushing to fight against stronger and stronger opponents, even when they beat the living shit out of her. She wanted-no needed-to get stronger to prove herself and survive.

"That was when she started staying here most the time, that all happening before she was even fucking seven. I met her when she was nine and we got real close. She didn't choose to tell me, I just went to her place one day since she forgot her bag and saw the aftermath of what went on at her apartment. Since then I've gotten bits and pieces from her, police reports, people who know her, and from listening to her when she gets a flashback. Her old man still takes it out on her, but he doesn't get as many chances anymore since she only goes back there three or four times a week to drop off money."

I glanced up at Naruto, finally snapping out of my stupor long enough to ask another question. "Why does she give that bastard anything?"

"If she doesn't show then he tracks her down. You remember around two years ago when she supposedly went off to train with some friend of Joel's for a couple months? She was in the hospital because her father tracked her down after she tried to get away from him and didn't visit one day." Naruto's voice cracked several times throughout the story, but he somehow managed to not completely lose it and sob.

"Sakura can hold her own well. Why doesn't she fight back?" I was getting frustrated now. Why hadn't someone done _something_ more to help the pink haired girl?

"Sakura is strong, but her father's stronger. You ever wonder how Joel got all the funds to start this place? Ever wonder who Brass Knuckles is, the name of the fighter on seventy-five percent of the trophies in Joel's case? Sakura's dad. He and Joel made this place, but when he dad got married he gave the whole ownership over to Joel." Naruto patiently explained to his red-headed friend, growing uncomfotable with how much about Sakura he was telling Gaara.

I was silent for a moment, continuing to digest all of this information on the girl beside me. I now realized just how fragile she looked and was. Knowing all this about her made me see her differently, strangely bringing out my protective instincts. I wanted to help her, fend off her demon father.

Naruto stood up suddenly, his goofy grin re-appearing on his face. "Well, that's enough information for now. How about I go get her dressed and you take her back to her place?" I didn't reply, so he lifted up the girl and went back to the changing rooms.

A couple minutes later he walked back out with Sakura's bag slung over his back and Sakura's arm around his shoulder's as she stumbled forward.

"How long was I out for Naruto?" She grumbled, finally reaching where I was standing and seeming to notice me for the first time. "Did he see me…..?" She hissed into Naruto's ear, obviously horrible at whispering since I heard what she said.  
>"Naruto wanted me to drive you home." I stated, avoiding the question. She seemed disoriented from her earlier freak-out, what I guessed was probably a flashback, so she just nodded at my answer. Naruto passed her over to me along with her bag and a slip of paper that had her address on it before heading out, saluting me.<p>

I guided her outside to my bike, using the same arrangement as the night before to keep her from falling. When we finally arrived at her place it was around one in the Aafternoon. _Damn, I spent a while at the gym talking to Naruto. _I pulled her off the bike and practically dragged her to her apartment. After knocking on the door I stepped into the shadows of the dimly lit hallway.

A minute later a man yanked open the door, his stance sloppy and his appearance even worse.

"Finally home you damn little whore." He slurred, grabbing the barely standing Sakura by the hair and pulling her into the apartment. I then turned and started walking down the hallway, reminding myself about what Naruto said. Things would be worse if she didn't go home. He would hurt her even more. That was when the screams started up, echoing through the hallway and filling my ears. I kept chanting, _I'm helping her, I'm helping her, _but it sure as hell didn't feel like it.

Sakura POV

As soon as I my currently drunk father pulled me in the door by my hair, my sense went on high alert. I was suddenly very aware of my surroundings; I was back at the apartment. Not home, this place never was and never will be home. He pressed me up against the wall after slamming the door behind me and whispered into my ear, "You only get what you deserve." He then spun me around and threw a punch into my gut, causing me to cry out. "Good, suffer slut like you make me suffer. I thought I killed your mother, got rid of her for good, but you're just like her!" He screamed, slamming his foot into my already injured ribs over and over again.

I continued to scream, vaguely remembering Gaara bringing me back to the apartment and hoping he would come back for me. As that red liquid began to bubble from my lips unconsciousness began to grab at me, but I struggled out of its reach. When my father was done with me, coming down from his uncontrollable fit of rage, I hoped Gaara would return and save me. I hoped he would lift me up into his arms and carry me away from this place, to somewhere better.

He didn't.

**A/N: Okay? Bad? Disturbingly horrible? Please let me know what you think! Thank you so much!**

**IMPORTANT: I would love to keep up my every three day update, and I will make a great effort to continue that, but somethings in my life caught up to me. I'm struggling to get through this faze of being dropped down into sadness****, but I will not let myself slack on my story. Though the updates may be late, they will be coming.**


	4. Take Me Away

**A/N: Yeah, I know. This is late. Lame excuse time: my brother had the computer all day for two days, then on the third day when I had it back the internet refused to connect. I ended up messing with the box thingy. Also, I'm having a hard time getting out of this faze of (well I guess if I ever talked to someone it would probobly be some form of depression since I've got a family history of it in severe cases) so I'm fighting, working to get back up on my feet. Done with stupid excuses now. Oh yes! I also forgot to tell everyone that since I am horrible at understanding characters people will be OOC in my story. Okay? This chapter may seem like a filler, but I see it as a little more insight on how close Sakura and Naruto are. (though this is definitly a GAASAKU)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

Naruto POV

I gripped the steering wheel tightly, headlights from oncoming cars illuminating my front seat and revealing how white my knuckles were. I hated doing clean up duty. When I finally arrived at her apartment complex I turned off the engine, sighing as I leaned forward and placed my head against the cold steering wheel. For probably the millionth time I thought over any possible ways for me to get her out of this deadly game she played almost daily, her life dangling between death and the hell she survived on earth. Once again, I could find nothing that didn't put her in ever more danger.

I let out another sigh, a habit I picked up whenever thoughts of her came to mind and shoved open my car door before climbing out. I slammed the door behind me and locked the car by pressing a single button on my keys._ If only everything was that simple. _I thought to myself as I strode past several apartments, reaching the set of rusted and falling apart stairs that led to the second floor of apartments. The place looked more like a cheap motel, but I opted to keep that opinion to myself. I trudged up the stairs, my tennis shoes slamming against the metal and concern building in me the closer I got to her place. At the top of the stairs I stood there, just standing in front of her door as if I expected her to throw it open and greet me with one of her almost non-existent smiles. When I finally took a deep breath and walked into the unlocked apartment, I felt the usual feeling of regret for doing so. Bloodstains covered the place, some years old, some from recent weeks.

I looked around the room before I spotted her, lying on her side with her back against the right wall. Her pink hair was splayed out around her head with her limbs lying limp on the ground around her, giving her an angelic look if you ignored all the blood that matted her hair and covered her clothes.

"Sakura?" She didn't respond and I decided her father had probably hit in her head with something or hit her head against something, causing me to swiftly move towards her. I wrinkled my nose when the drunk and unconscious man known as her father, tangled up in the sheets of a moldy bed a couple feet away, let out a snore. I put a hand under Sakura's head and my other hand under her side as I lifted her up into a sitting position.

"Sakura?" I repeated, still getting not reply from my bloody friend. "Geez, you just gotta make my job harder, don't you?" I tried to joke, but found no humor in my words as I studied her. There was a rather large bump on the back right side of her head, her left wrist looked out of place, and her left eye was swollen shut, seeming to turn a darker purple every second I stared at it. I adjusted her body so her right arm was around my shoulders and the other that was injured lay limply at her side. I dragged her out of the apartment, down the stairs, and to the passenger side of my Jeep. I carefully placed her in the seat and put on her seatbelt before, quietly as I could, I closed the door and went around to the driver's side. I got into the car quickly, gunning the engine and soaring out of the complex and heading towards the gym.

Sakura POV

I opened my eyes slowly, light filling my vision which caused me to slow my effort. Eventually my eyelids were open and a feeling of safe washed over me as I recognized the interior of Naruto's Jeep. I glanced up at the road and recognized the familiar route to the gym, causing a small smirk to grace my face.

"N-Na-ru." His concerned face immediately swiveled to the side so he was looking at me, relief flooding his features and giving the poor steering wheel a break.

"Hey Saku, glad you woke up. I'm gonna take you to the gym to get cleaned up." He spoke to me in a voice people usually used when talking to a scared child, but at these times I didn't mind. I actually appreciated how gentle he was with me. It backed me off the edge I was rocking back and forth on, everything in my life threatening to throw me over into an abyss of darkness and depression I could never climb out of.

I simply nodded and he turned his head back to look at the road. Things stayed like that for a while, the ache in my head making me aware dad had probably given me another concussion, but I was too out of it to really get that it would just be another one to add to my award winning record of injuries.

When we got to the gym Naruto got out and jogged around to my side of the car. He pulled open my door and put my arm around his shoulders for support as he helped me inside.

Once there he slowly set me down on the closest bench and headed towards Joel's office to get the first aid kit. I just sat there on the bench, my mind only partially taking in everything that was going on. When I heard the door beside the bench I was on close and open I thought maybe Naruto had gone back to his car to get something, but just dismissed it as that. I was unprepared to see an extremely familiar red head walk in with his gym bag over his shoulder and his expression blank as always. After taking a step or two he seemed to recognize my presence and stopped, the only sign of his shock being how big his pupils got.

He froze, just standing there and staring at me for a while. Finally I decided to end the awkward silence. "Hey." I whispered my voice still scratchy from all of my screaming the night before. That seemed to snap him out of his daze because his eyes immediately turned to look away from me and his stance stiffened.

"Hello." I would have grinned at his monotone answer if my face didn't still hurt.

"What are you doing here?" _That was a stupid question_. Was the thought that immediately followed my question. It was a fighting gym, what about the title didn't explain his presence to me I don't know.

"Practicing for the tournament in three days." Of course he had to say three days, not a couple, not soon, with Gaara I learned everything was specific. Whatever you said, you meant. Thankfully Naruto returned then so I didn't ask another completely idiotic question.

"Gaara! Do you wanna fight me after I get her all patched up?" Gaara simply nodded and I narrowed my eyes. Gaara had been such a nosy bastard, so I couldn't figure out why he wasn't jumping on asking me about my recently acquired injuries.

"Naruto," I called him over, my confusion turning to anger as I guessed possible answers to my question. "what happened to Gaara's nosy behavior. He seems completely comfortable with seeing me like this, almost like he expected it. I think, and please do correct me if I'm wrong, that you played a little game of twenty questions with the asshole, correct?" I growled, using my good arm to reach up and grab the blonde's collar so I could pull him down to my height.

He, looking just as stunned Gaara had a minute ago, froze and his pupil's widened. "I d-don't know what you're talking about Saku." He avoided eye contact and I knew immediately he was lying.

"Christ Naruto! You can't just go doing show and tell with my life!" (**A/N: **Please tell me if that offends you and I'll change it) I yelled, to the best of my ability, and shoved him away from me.

His expression turned hurt and he fumbled with an explanation. "But when you were in the shower you got all 'I'm having a flashback' so he had to help me get you out of the shower and into a towel. I swear I didn't let him see anything! And then he was all 'What the hell?' so I started talking but he doesn't know everything. Just the big stuff." He spat out quickly, his words running together and it took me a moment to decipher what he was saying.

Any other time I would have taken him into the ring to settle this, but I couldn't with my state at the time. "Just think before you go blabbing about my life to evreyone next time, alright? Only a few people know anything other than that I am the girl with pink hair at the gym about me and I like it that way." Just to frustrate him I admitted, "You don't even know all the important things about me."

Mr. Silent-and-Strong finally decided that that was a good time to butt in and I was actually slightly relieved he did so I didn't have to hear Naruto whine. "Sakura, I know you wish to fight in competitions and become stronger, so I suggest I mentor you." Okay, that was the last thing I was expecting.

After a minute of just gaping at him I managed, "What?"

**A/N: Yeah, real short and crappy. This has got to be some sort of record. Anyways, it was either give you this now, or wait another week for be to get my ass in gear and up it to the regular 2.5K. Hope you all enjoyed this and as always some feedback would be greatly appriciated.**


	5. It's not Right

**A/N: **I'm trying, I really am. I just hope my writing doesn't suck as much as I think it does. I'm just gonna say the verbal inspirations for Sakura's father are from my own experience. Some other parts of this story will also be my own experiences (while things like seeing her murdered mother are purely from my twisted imagination), so maybe that helps explain my lack of stability in my writing schedule and life.

Chp5

Sakura threw a fast right at Gaara, her frustration growing even more when he evaded to punch with ease.  
>"Stop attacking blindly. Study your opponent." He growled, sending a kick to her right side that put her on the floor, gasping for breath. "We're done for today."<br>She sat up in the ring, pressing her left palm against the throbbing side as she made attempts to take in a breath. He walked past her with a glare, snarling, "That didn't hurt that bad."

She glared back at him as best she could, bracing her hand against the ropes off the ring and pulling herself to her feet. He didn't wait to see how things went after that, quickly ducking out of the ring and heading for the men's changing room. She stood there for several moments, her determination and stubbornness keeping her legs steady until she heard the door the men's changing room slam shut. She collapsed to her knees, taking in quick and ragged breaths in an effort to calm her body. Gaara had been that way, indifferent and angry around her, ever since the day a month ago when he had offered to mentor her. True, her speed and strength had gotten better at an unimaginable rate. True, she had become better in the past month than in the past year. But also true, his teaching methods were brutal and left her completely exhausted. He was never cruel nor did he beat her into the ground just to prove superiority, but he would not tolerate it when her all wasn't in the fight.

As her heart rate along with her breathing slowed back to a normal pace, she forced herself to stand again and made her way to the women's changing room. Once she entered the putrid smell filled her nostrils with suffocating strength, the unhittable scent of death. Every day when she entered the changing room, she was brought back into the memory of discovering that daddy was worse than not okay, he was a fucking psycho. She shook off her thoughts and went over to her bag, dreading what followed. She stripped down and entered the shower, wincing as the cool liquid cascaded down on her, washing over her skin in a matter that made her feel sick.

After surviving the shower she dressed in simple black sweat and a grey beater. She then dropped down on the bench and laced up her black converse, covered in silver sharpie writing. Each sentence on her shoes was something her father had said to her, each comment something mother's would shield their children's eyes from reading. She didn't care; they made her feel stronger for surviving everyday life.

She picked up her back and walked out of the changing rooms, letting out a string of cusses when, through the gym of fighters, she noticed Gaara casually talking to Naruto beside the ring. She started walking towards them, their conversation reaching her ears.

"You think Joel will let her enter the Sound tournament?" Naruto asked and, out of Gaara's view, was crossing his fingers that Sakura had grown strong enough to not be killed in her first tournament.

"I'm her mentor, of course she can. I talked briefly to Joel about it yesterday and he noticed her progress. I doubt there will be and real arguments against her entering." They both whipped their heads around to look toward the women's changing room when they heard a growl of, "About time."

Sakura made her way over to the two fighters without even a smirk so that anyone else would figure she didn't just get her life's goal accomplished. "I'm going to kick serious ass."

Gaara glared at her and grumbled, "If your opponent doesn't put you six feet under while you're bragging." She ignored his comment and headed towards Joel's office to go over the tournament with him. She closed the door after her once she entered the beaten office, sitting down in one of the falling apart wooden chairs across from Joel's.

He raised his eyes up from the paperwork, most likely bills; he was going over and only spared her a glance before going back to it. "I know what you're here for," was all her said. Sakura began to wring her hands, suddenly feeling doubtful that he would let her fight.

"You can enter." He stated simply before returning his full attention to his work. She was slightly surprised at how easy this was and became instantly suspicious. _Brief conversation my ass, what did Gaara say to him? _Sakura wondered, hoping to pick up on some persuasion techniques.

"Get out now. I'll fill out your registration form, but you need to do all the medical stuff." Sakura murmured a 'Thank you' before standing up and walking out. She felt as if an enormous weight had been lifted from her shoulders and she walked through the gym, everything looking a little lighter than before.

She waved to Naruto and called, "I'm heading out. Got to rest up for the tournament!"

"That's awesome Sakura!" Naruto yelled at the same time Gaara replied,

"It's only two days away, shouldn't you train more?"

She waved them both off, heading out through the back gym door and beginning the trek home.

Sakura POV

Twenty or so minutes after I left the gym I arrived home, climbing up the rusty stairs as I fumbled through my bag for the key just in case for the first time in years my dad decided to lock the door. When I reached the door though my effort was proved pointless since the door was not only unlocked, but already cracked open. I pushed it fully open and sighed when I saw dad drunk and passed out on the bed.

"Nice to see you too." I grumbled, glaring at the disgusting excuse for a parent I had. Some days I really considered killing him in his sleep, but I couldn't. I wouldn't risk jail over a bastard like him. Besides, I had to give him credit. For a completely fucked up raving psycho, I had to give him credit. He hadn't killed me yet.  
>Yet.<p>

After tossing my bag on the ground I let myself crumbled to the ground in exhaustion, my eyelids slowly closing and my body sinking to the floor. "I'm gonna win, I'm gonna do it for you mom."

Gaara POV

I glared at Sakura's back as she exited the gym, my expression returning to neutral as soon as I heard the door close behind her. "How can she go home like that?" I whispered, jumping slightly when Naruto unexpectedly replied.

"Her mother always told Sakura she was just being weak and that her life was nothing to cry over. Now that her mother's gone, Sakura has this thing with pretending to be alright with the fucked up world she lived in." Naruto shook his head disgustedly, venom in his voice as he spoke.

I just nodded, the protective instinct I had been feeling around her a lot coming on when he told me that. "I don't really know what parents are supposed to be like, my dad was gone as soon as he found out my mom was having me and mom didn't survive my birth, but somehow I can tell that isn't how you're supposed to treat your kids." The blonde nodded beside me, his stern expression bringing a smirk to my face at the idea of the bastard meeting Naruto and I in a dark alley.

The rest of the day through my training that fantasy was tossed around in my mind, all different, and very pleasing, scenarios playing out. Every time I attacked, I pictured the face of that mother fucker and my anger seemed to double along with my strength. I ended up breaking Kiba's arm, screwing up Shino's leg, and I think I managed to break a couple of Naruto's fingers in a match with gloves. I was feeling much better when I exited the locker room I nodded to Naruto, grabbed my bag and walked out of the gym. As I climbed onto my bike, I couldn't help but continue to thing about the pink haired beauty. _I guess she really is beautiful, even with those damn bruises. _I admitted, not up to having an argument with myself.

As I drove off I found I was driving towards Sakura's place, and somehow it didn't bother me. The rest of the way there I continued trying to think up an excuse for showing up on her doorstep at ten at night.

When I got there I convinced myself I had showed up to tell her that her fights were _probably _going to be in the morning. While I actually had no idea when her fights were since the schedule was always posted at the fighting gym an hour before the started, she didn't need to know that.

I got off my bike, discreetly looking around as I pretended to straighten my jacket. I hadn't been paying much attention last time I had been here and found a growl rising in my throat as I noticed several shady looking men camped out beside a trashcan with a fire inside it below Sakura's apartment. As I walked up the stairs to my destination I couldn't resist the urge to slam my shoulder into the nearest guy before continuing my silent walk up the steps. I heard him whisper something to his trashy buddies, but played no attention to the bastards who weren't worth my time.

I slammed my knuckles against the door three times, making sure my presence was known. After a couple shuffling sounds the door was cracked open, red hair coming into my vision as a tall man opened the door.

Ignoring his scowl I asked, "Is Sakura here? I need to talk to her about her fights for the upcoming tournament." The man seemed genuinely surprised for a moment before his expression molded into a sinister smirk.

"So the bitch wants to try and make some money?" He growled, his furious tone making me question mentioning the tournament.

"She isn't a bitch, and yes. She has chosen to take part in the Sound tournament." I replied, my tone matching his when I heard him speak so foully about his own daughter.

His expression returned to its former and more natural seeming, scowl. "Don't correct me. I know my daughter is a whore." I was about to tell him off again when he continued, "And thank you for the interesting information. Nobody likes to be kept in the dark about things." On that note he slammed the door and I was left staring at it, feeling a mix of emotions churning through me. Of all of them, one was stronger than all the others.

Concern.

**A/N: **Yep, another damn short chapter, even with all the time I had. *Shrugs* Don't really know if anyone is even reading anymore, but thank you to anyone who is.


	6. Flamethrower

**A/N: **I hope you guys like this. Thank you for the support from everyone who has added me to story alert, author alert, added me to their favorite story list, added me to their favorite author list, or reviewed.

Gaara paced around the dressing room that had been reserved for Sakura, Naruto, and he since they were representing the Leaf gym. His frustration was mingling with the annoying presence of his concern for the girl, the fact that her felt so much concern for her frustrating him even more. The blonde on the bench to his left, his right when he turned around to pace the room for what felt like the hundredth time, was conflicted on whether to try and calm Gaara down or stay out of his war path. Eventually, after watching Gaara torture himself enough with his thoughts, he decided to intervene.

"Gaara, come on. She'll be here. She would never miss a chance to fight." Naruto tried to reason with his friend, but let out a feminine squeak when the furious fighter turned his heated glare on him.

"That's exactly what conc-" He cut himself off from expressing his worry for the girl by quickly saying, "_annoys_ me. What if her father began an argument about her fighting and she said something stupid back? For all we know she is fucking dead because of her stupidity!" Gaara snarled, returning to his pacing immediately after finishing speaking.

At first Naruto's expression was frightened, Gaara was extremely terrifying when he wanted to be, but then it transformed to one of fury with a glare that could rival the red head's own. "You listen here jackass! She may be loud, push her opinions even when she's wrong, and never listen to what people tell her, but you have no right to talk about things between her and her father. All you know is what I told you, an hour or so of talking does not give you insight on the years of hell she goes home to!" Gaara was taken aback and Naruto's fury, but jumped into the argument, pleased to have a vent for his anger.

"I know enough about her! So what her father hits the little bitch!" He immediately regretted using the same wording as Sakura's father, but refused to back down and admit he was wrong. "Maybe she deserves it!"

He saw Naruto's fist come at him, but felt no reason to block it. It smashed into his left cheek with a sickening sound. Because he knew he still couldn't back down, he fought back. He threw a kick at Naruto, which was block, but in Naruto's distraction he lunged towards the blonde and tackled him to the ground. They wrestled on the ground for several moments, ducking punches from each other, when a flash of pink in their vision caused them both to freeze. Gaara raised his gaze to look up and spotted Sakura in the doorway with her mouth put in a thin line, bruises lining her body and visible on the skin her Seether t-shirt and black sweatpants didn't cover.

Gaara slowly climbed to his feet, letting Naruto up and trying to figure out how much she had heard. Naruto, being the better at realizing when he was wrong or had gone too far, moved towards Sakura with his hands outstretched to hug her. "Saku, Saku plea-" As soon he was within a couple inches of her she flinched and a hurt expression spread across his face. "Saku, he didn't mean it." He again tried to hug her when Tsunade, seeming to appear from nowhere, stepped in-between the two.

"Sakura needs to get dressed; I suggest you boys get the hell out." The busty blonde snarled through clenched teeth, a bad sign for both boys. Naruto walked past Sakura with a quiet 'Sorry' and Gaara soon followed, refusing to even look at her, with Tsunade following on Gaara's heels. Sakura walked inside the room and slammed the door behind her, leaving the two boys out in the hallway with the scary medic.

Tsunade stared at the boys for a few moments, a glare settled across her features, before she let out a sigh and brought a hand up to rub her temples in an attempt to fight off her headache. "You boys will be the end of me." She grumbled, her age showing through her young appearance as her worry lines became visible.

Naruto was the first to speak up and asked, "How much did Sakura hear?"

Tsunade looked up at Naruto for a moment before murmuring, "Enough to know Mr. Moody thinks she's a bitch and deserves the shit she gets at home." The blonde woman looked utterly exhausted which only made Naruto feel worse. "You know she's angrier at herself for trusting a bastard like him," she reminded Naruto as she jerked her thumb in Gaara's direction, "Than she is actually angry at him. She won't go to see a shrink for that damn guilt issue she has." She then turned on Gaara, vainly trying to look angry. "You better have one amazing damn apology or you'll be out of an apprentice, she'll be out of a mentor, she'll get the shit beat out of her in the ring, and her dad will beat the shit out of her for not being able to continue official fighting since that brings in money." Tsunade laid out everything that was resting on his shoulders over this one apology, hoping that would motivate the asshole.

Gaara watched her in several more moments before turning and opening the door their room, closing it behind him after walking in. Naruto heard a scream of protest from Sakura and could only hope things would turn out alright.

Gaara POV

Damn girl was getting under my skin with the way everyone protected her like she was fucking glass. Her punches did not feel like they were thrown by fine china, thus I didn't understand their need to create a damn protective barrier around her. I went into the changing room, growing even angrier that inside something in me agreed with the old hag that I should apologize to Sakura. As soon I was inside I looked around and spotted Sakura sitting on one of the benches with her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands.

"Is that any way to warm up for a fight? You should be over at the punching bag." She snapped out of her daze and looked up at me when I said that. She seemed to instantly realize how weak she looked because she jumped to her feet and managed a pitiful glare.

"Get the fuck out of here. I don't want to see you right now." Her voice was low and threatening, but I didn't pay any attention to that. All my attention was on studying her. In her short and sports bra I got a better look at how badly bruised she was and I didn't like it. Her right ankle was swollen, probably twisted, her knees were bruised, and the right side of her ribs were one huge blob of purple, black and blue. While the only damage on her face and arms remained a few bruises here and there, they didn't help my building anger towards her father.

"Those ribs are probably broken, one punch there and you'll be down." As I spoke I sounded disgusted that she was making such a sad attempt at fighting, managing not to give away my concern.

She studied me with an incredulous expression for several moments before dipping her head down so her hair masked everything except for the grin that spread across her face. With a sharp laugh she whispered, "I'm not going to back down. I need to prove to people I'm not a useless bitch." With that she walked past me, slamming her shoulder into mine as she went by. Only after I heard the door close behind her did me let my anger take control and I slammed my fist into the locker on my right.

Normal POV

Sakura entered the ring, the screams from all around her sending her mind into overdrive as she planned attacks, studied her opponent, and bounced on the balls of her feet. Behind her stood Tsunade, whispering encouragement to the pink haired fighter. In the crowd sat a man with blood colored hair and a loud blonde beside him. The both anxiously awaited the beginning of the fight, the blonde yelling cheers for the fighter known as Bloody Thorn who was fighting against a red headed girl that was called Flamethrower because of her tendencies to bring lighters into fights and use them to breathe fire at her opponents.

Gaara studied Sakura's opponent with growing worry. The other girl had at least twenty pounds on Sakura along with a year's more experience. The Sound's gym would be hearing from him about putting experienced fighter up against a new fighter. He definitely did not see Sakura as weak, after all she was his apprentice, but he was not happy about this arrangement. When the shrill bell signaling the beginning of the fight went off Gaara tensed, all of his muscles flexing beneath his clothing as he subconsciously prepared himself to run up and stop the fight at any moment.

Sakura POV

I stepped forward as soon the bell went off, rushing the red head. With all my anger at another red head at the moment fueling my movement it was easy to pretend she was Gaara and I was about to beat the shit out him. I started off with a few teasing punches, testing her fighting style. She lazily blocked my taunts, throwing in a few punches of her own. I quickly grew tired of that and upped the speed of the fight, jumping back and circling around her until I threw a kick at her left side. She twisted out of the way and I lost my balance, falling forwards slightly which was enough for her to throw a punch that hit me square in the nose with a loud crack. She had definitely broken it. If the crack wasn't enough proof of that then stream of blood that spilled from it after the punch was.

I stepped back, pointlessly wiping the blood off my face as more continued to fall from nose, assessing her actions. She was the type to wait for her attacks until her opponent messed up, so I needed a quick take down to beat her. I also noticed she was keeping her mouth closed and that her cheeks were slightly puffed out, only breathing through her nose. Tucking that fact I away I fought with renewed fury , my punches now backed with the confidence that I knew how to deal with her.

She landed a punch on my right eye almost right after I moved at her and my ankle was getting annoyingly more swollen and painful from all the movement. I was contemplating my next move, trying to figure out what required little pressure on my ankle, when I saw her suddenly move and flash of silver. I then focused all my attention on her in time to see her open a lighter and flick on the flame. It was too late when I realized what was going on. She spewed her mouthful of chemicals into the flame and it exploded at me. I put up my hands in defense and felt the heat envelope them and lick at my arms. I let out a scream and fell back against the mat, holding my burned hands against my chest. With fury boiling through me I kicked outwards and took her legs out from under her. She fell down against the mat and I hissed, "I won't have you at a higher level than me. I kicked out my legs again and smashed her in the face with my left leg, sparing my hurt ankle, and watched in satisfaction as she fell back against the mat with a thud, unconscious.

That was when the overwhelming pain hit me and I screamed again, pulling my hands even closer. I felt muscular arms pick me up and saw flash of red, but the pain was distorting my vision and things grew more distorted so I closed my eyes. As the pain worsened I heard someone yelling, "You're not a useless bitch, so you better not fucking die!"

**A/N: **Good? Completely utterly terrible? Thanks for reading!


	7. Waking Up

**A/N**: Sorry guys, I don't know what happened, but something got messed up and the wrong chapter was up! I really appriciate all your help adn support!

Three extremely tired and upset looking people occupied three of the uncomfortable plastic hospital chairs. Actually, just two of them since the third was pacing back and forth muttering curses and growling incoherent things. A male red head and a blonde woman were seated on two of the hospitals uncomfortable chairs in the colorless waiting room, waiting for Sakura's auto graft to be finished so they could check up on her.

After watching Naruto pace for several more agonizing minutes Gaara snapped, "Sit down, dumbass. You're pissing me off with your pacing."

Naruto glared at him, but obeyed and threw himself down into the nearest chair. "When the hell is her damn auto graft gonna be done?" He whined, staring at the doors a doctor would come from and inform them on Sakura's condition.

Just as Gaara was about to make a loud and colorful answer a young blonde man walked through the doors, his white doctors coat swaying around him. "Family of Sakura Haruno?" He called, looking around the waiting room. Gaara got to his feet, waving at the man who stared at him for several moments before asking, "Do you think I'm going to believe you are her family sir?"

Gaara snarled, "Unless you want me to drag her drunk ass father down here by his fucking toes I suggest you let us pass as her family." The man looked thoroughly terrified and managed a jerky nod, turning and walking back through the doors as he flashed a wave for them to follow over his shoulder. Tsunade and Naruto stood up, following after Gaara who was practically walking on the doctor's heels.

They eventually stopped in front of a room and the doctor turned to them. "Miss Haruno's arms have had new skin placed on them through an auto graft, but there will be scarring. Most likely the skin will be slightly white in the sections of her arms where the most damage occurred because we used more layers of skin to help the damage." Tsunade stayed behind to talk to the doctor while Naruto and Gaara rushed into Sakura's room to find the girl sleeping in the hospital bed, jagged white patched up her arms and her hands look like she had gloves on, white with jagged edges around her wrists.

"Sakura..." Naruto whispered, grabbing a chair and taking a seat beside the girl. "That girl really fucked up your beautiful skin. If I'd known who you were fighting I would have never let you go up there." He whispered, his blue eyes sparkling from the tears pooling in the bottom of them. He then grasped her right hand, the one closest to him, and pressed it to his face as he buried his face in the sheets of her bed, trying to stifle his crying.

Gaara stood back for a moment before he took the left side of Sakura's bed, doing as Naruto did and pulling up a chair. He stared at her hands, his gaze soft as his eyes swept over the medical tape over where her nails were on every finger. He kept staring at them, his expression contorting to one of anger as he realized the damn red headed bitch may have taken away Sakura's nails permanently along with the scarring on her skin. When he heard the male voice his head jerked up in surprise to look at the doorway where the voices owner stood, Tsunade at his side. "Miss Haruno got lucky; there are still some cells for her nails to regenerate." Gaara felt a wave of relief, but also anger that the doctor had been able to read his thoughts so easily. "She should be awake in a few hours since the gas we used to knock her out was pretty strong since she was still kicking when you brought her in."

Gaara nodded to show he understood, but returned his gaze to Sakura, now looking at her face. His gaze was brought to that scar on her forehead and his brows creased together in annoyance at the flaw on her face. He glared at it; almost thinking it would be scared of him and just go away. "Now I know you mentioned her father was a drunk. As it is my profession to help people I feel obligated to ask if that is where she got the numerous scars on her. Is that also where she got these burns? I need some sort of answer for the report."

Gaara growled at how nosy this damn guy was. He stood up from his seat quickly causing his chair to fall backwards with a clatter. In three long strides he was in front of the doctor, in his face glaring. "First, just write we had a bonfire that went wrong for your damn report. Second, you stay the hell out of Sakura's business. Third, why the hell were you poking around her body? I think your supervisors, if I told this story to them properly, would see that you sexually harassed a young girl who was unconscious." The doctor immediately paled and took a step back, muttering something about another patient before he turned and fled from the room. He nearly slammed into Tsunade who was walking into the room with three sodas.

She handed Gaara one before she walked over to Naruto and set it beside his head. The blonde jerked his head up, tear stains obvious on his face, and upon noticing the soda opened it with his empty hand and took a sip whispering, "Thanks."

Tsunade nodded and turned to Gaara. "What did you say to that doctor that made him sprint out of here?"

"I simply reminded him of his place. He was asking about Sakura's scars so I told him it could be sexual harassment for a grown man to be looking around an unconscious young woman's body." Gaara explained as he calmly took a sip of his soda.

"Well, now that everything with that is resolved," Tsunade chirped, looking unusually happy, "I think I'm going to leave you boys with Sakura to form your apology while I speak with Flamethrower's manager." She then turned on her heel and left, leaving two dumbfounded boys in her wake.

Naruto glanced up at Gaara and huffed, "We really should apologize to her. She was pretty upset when you called her a bitch."

Gaara let out a growl, glaring at Naruto. "Think I don't know that blondie?"

"Blondie? What the hell you moody bastard!"

"What the fuck did you just call me you obnoxious idiot?"

"You heard me! You always act like there's a stick up your ass! Step off your pedestal and apologize to the poor girl!"

"Guys?" Both boys stopped fighting when a soft feminine voice interrupted their argument and two pairs of eyes turned on the small girl.

"SAKURA!" Naruto screamed, throwing his arms around her and hugging her. "You had me so worried! Don't ever get caught on fire ever again!"

Gaara rolled his eyes at Naruto's stupidity. "I promise Naruto." Sakura laughed, hugging the boy back. Eventually Naruto released her and stepped back, reaching over and poking Gaara.

Gaara glared at the boy but cleared his throat. "Um, Sakura." She looked up at him, her emerald eyes with traces of anger. "I wanted to say it wasn't...my place to call you a bitch and...yeah."

"So you're saying you were wrong to call me a bitch and didn't mean it?" Sakura teased, forgiving him because never before had she heard him apologize and it was nice to know the red head wasn't completely emotionless.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry, you were what again? And don't say you were sorry, that's not what I mean."

"Incorrect."

"What?"

"Incorrect."

"What?"

"I was fucking wrong, okay? I am sorry for offending you and I shouldn't have said those things!" He yelled, slamming his fist against the wall.

A grin spread across Sakura's face and she replied, "Okay, I forgive you. When can I leave?"

Gaara's eyes widened for a few moments before they went back to normal and he brought a hand up to his temples. "Damn girl is giving me a headache." Naruto let out a bark-like laugh, putting his hand over his stomach. Gaara threw a glare at the blonde, but it eventually faded. "How are you feeling Sakura?"

"Well, my arms are pretty sore and they hurt, but I'll be good. Just get the lotion the doctor was talking about putting on my arms afterwards daily to help my arms and we'll get out of here." Naruto smile and jumped to attention, saluting her.

"I will be back with the lotion!" He then sprinted out the door, turning right and going down the hallways. Gaara shook his head at the idiot and made his way over to Sakura's bedside, taking the seat Naruto was previously occupying.

"I'm gonna tell you now, there is no way you're going home. You're staying at my place for a while until your hands are fully healed. You can't punch the bastard if your hands hurt." Gaara told her sternly, but a joking glint came into his eyes as he said the last part.

"But if I'm at your place he could hurt you!" Sakura protested, frustrated that Gaara wasn't grasping the danger of harboring her when she was supposed to be home.

"Like he does to you every time you go back there?" He asked, somehow keeping calm and not yelling or shaking her to try and get some sense in the girl.

"Don't you understand I don't want anyone getting mixed into my home affairs? I may sound like some noble idiot, but I will get hurt if it stops him from hurting the people I care about!" She shouted, glaring at the stubborn man beside her.

Gaara sat stunned for several moments, thinking, _she cares about me? Since when?_ After a several moments of thinking that and thoughts alike to it he informed her, "I really don't care. You're too exhausted to run from me, so I'm going to take you back to my place and you're going to stay there."

She looked torn, staring at him through a minute of silence, before she let out a sigh. "You're right, I am exhausted. I'll stay with you, but if he shows up you aren't to speak to him and I **will** leave."

Gaara simply shrugged before saying, "No promises." Sakura let out another sigh as he said that. That was the moment Naruto chose to come charging back into the room, several bottle of lotion in his arms.

"I...got...the...lotion...but...I'm...being...chased...we...gotta...leave..." He sputtered between gasps for air. Gaara looked at Sakura with a grin.

"Looks like it's time to go. I know you won't be able to run, so just climb on my back and we'll get the hell out of here." He turned his back to her and Sakura climbed on his muscular back. He, with Naruto close behind, sprinted out of the room and headed out down the hallway.

"Wait a second Narutard! How are we getting out of here since I came in an ambulance?" Sakura asked, turning her head to look at the blonde.

"I ran into Tsunade. She had just gotten back and she flirted with the doctor while I swiped this lotion. She should be out front with the car." Sakura nodded, relaxing slightly at the knowledge they would not be grabbed by hospital security. Once they were out the front door Sakura spotted Naruto's jeep. She smiled as Naruto climbed into the passenger seat while Gaara into the backseat pulling Sakura with him.

As Tsunade drove away a smile formed on Sakura's lips when Tsunade asked, "Where is Sakura headed?" and Gaara replied, "My place."

**A/N: **Two chapters in a day? Something is definitely wrong with me; I'm actually making my goals!


	8. Gone

**A/N: **I know it's kinda short, but I found the most PERFECT time to end this chapter! I know I'm pretty slow at writing, but please hang in there!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, BUT, I do own at tickling.

Tsunade dropped off Gaara and Sakura in front of Gaara's apartment place with Naruto protesting that he couldn't go with them as he handed Gaara my lotions, which Gaara promptly shoved in his cargo shorts pockets, and as Tsunade drove away. I let out a sigh, gentling swaying my hand back in forth in the air to make the wave as painless as possible. My arms were sore and I couldn't wait to get up to Gaara's flat so I could rub on some of the lotion. As Naruto's blonde head that was poking out the car window became smaller and smaller, I turned to Gaara, looking up at him with an expectant expression.

"Can't wait to be alone with me?" He taunted, raising a slim eyebrow at me. I in turn rolled my eyes, ignoring his suggestive comment as I walked past his to the building's front door. He followed behind me, steering me through the shabby lobby at over to a door clearly labeled 'Stairs'. He pushed open the door for me, something I was greatly thankful for, and we both made the climb up several sets of stairs before Gaara exited the stairwell through a door on one of the platforms between stair sets.

I followed behind him and we walked past a few doors before he pulled his keys out of his pocket and jammed it into the lock, turning it and opening the door. I slipped in behind him, surveying the apartment I had been in not too long ago. He walked into the kitchen and dropped his keys in a small wooden bowl on the counter.

"If you want something to eat, make me some too." He called before walking towards the hallway and disappearing into his bedroom on the left side of the hallway. I heard shuffling and I let out a low growl.

I moved into the kitchen, set on feeding myself and possibly the temperamental red head housing me. With little pain I pulled the fridge door open to see his selection had somewhat increased. He had milk, eggs, cheese, and some ham. I decided omelets were my best bet since there really wasn't any other option. I began picking up the ingredients one by one, setting them on the counter beside the stove. I winced, especially when grabbing the heavy milk, but refused to ask Gaara for help. He already seemed pretty pissed about the whole incident with Flamethrower, and I didn't feel like provoking his anger by pointing out lifting little things hurt my healing hands.

Once all the ingredients were spread out on the counter I began hunting through his cupboards until I found a pan that looked like it was more of weapon than cooking utensil with all the dents in it. I shrugged and started on the omelet, letting out a couple colorful words when the stove disobeyed. Once the omelets were in the pan, almost done, I took a pause to lean back against the counter and tilted my head back, pressing my palms against my forehead and twisting my fingers into my hair. I closed my eyes and pictured those giant flames coming at me, causing an involuntary shiver down my spine.

I snapped back to reality when I heard a noise from Gaara's room, pulling the omelets off the stove and, after some searching, dumping them onto plates. "Gaara, food!" I yelled, hoping the idiot showed up after I had made such an effort to make him food. Well, myself also, but that meant nothing towards him being ungrateful about a free meal.

After several moments of silence and me beginning to doubt that he was going to come out of his room, he finally emerged and lumbered over to me with his eyes fixed on the plates in my hands. At first he wore a confused expression, then it turned to frustration, then full blown fury. "What the hell are you doing? You shouldn't be making shit with your hands yet! We haven't even put the lotion stuff on and you're making freaking omelets? Do you want permanent damage to your hands?"

I was shocked by his outburst, but quick to retort. "I'm sorry, but who told me if I wanted to eat to make him some too?" I snarled, angry at him for snapping at me for reason.

"I was kidding! If you permanently damage them then you'll never again be able to fight! That'll be your whole future down the toilet! I don't want it to be my fault if that happens!" He countered, adding to my anger.

"I'm sorry for staining your fucking conscience by making you dinner!" I was done with his shit. I made him dinner and he had the guts to yell at me?

"You don't get it! If you can't fight, I won't be able to live with myself for taking away the one thing that makes you happy!" I stopped yelling back when he said that, trying to absorb his words. _He makes it sound like he gives a shit about me..._

Somewhere inside me, a voice whispered, **He wouldn't let you live with him, risking his safety and possibly life, if he didn't.**

I just stared at him and he seemed to grow nervous about my silence. Swallowing my pride I managed to spit out, "I'm sorry." He looked genuinely surprised for a moment before his expression became a one with no emotions.

"Yeah, okay. Let's eat and then put some of that crap on your arms." He glanced down at his slightly bulging pockets before asking, "Why the hell do you have to rub lotion on your arms anyway?"

I thought about it for a moment before answering. "Well, it's probably kind of like when you get a sun burn. You rub aloe lotion on it to sooth the stinging, so this stuff probably does something similar for my healing skin." I held out a plate to him, waiting until he took it before I walked over and dropped down onto the couch.

He, after what looked like a moment of thought the way his eyebrows drew together slightly and his nose became scrunched, he sat down beside me. The silence while we ate was rather awkward, but neither of us wanted to break it with our mouths being busy shoveling omelet into our mouths. I hadn't realized just how hungry I was.

He, surprisingly acting somewhat like a gentleman, Gaara took my plate from me and along with his dumped it in the sink. He poured some water over them, throwing in some soap, before rinsing them off, drying them, and shoving them back into the cupboard. He then walked back over to me, digging through his pockets before pulling out one of the lotion bottles. He returned to his spot beside me before commanding, "Put your arms out." I stared at him, not understanding why he was asking me to do that. "Put your hands out." He repeated, irritation edging into his voice.

I stared at him dumbly for a moment, tilting my head to the side in confusion, before asking, "Why?"

"So I can put this shit on your arms idiot." He growled, irritation edging into his voice.

"Oh." I said, stretching out my arms in front of me. He opened the bottle of lotion and pushed some into his right hand, setting down the bottle then and rubbing his hands together. He then took my muscular yet small right arm in his hands and began massaging the lotion up and down my arm. I couldn't see his expression since his head was bowed and staring at my arm, the white scarred parts of my arm making the area where I was burned painfully obvious, but he seemed pretty absorbed in his work. The slight stinging and burning in my arm slowly extinguished and a small relieved smile made its way onto my face.

He then moved onto the other arm, repeating the action of putting some lotion on his hands and rubbing it over the scarred sections of my arms. A few time he hit a sensitive spot and I winced, but after that his hand-while they were large and rough from fights and scarring-became even more cautious and gentle.

After the process was finished he didn't release my arm, simply pulled his grip downward until his hands were clasped carefully around mine. "Better?" He asked, looking up and meeting my gaze. I nodded, still not quite used to the gentler side of Gaara. I always saw him as a rough, take no shit, doesn't have time for other people kind of guy. Maybe that was what most people saw and that's why I he didn't seem to get along with anyone other than Naruto. That blonde had a habit it getting under everyone's skin and at the same time, no one who knew him minded.

We remained like that, my hand grasped in his as we sat facing each other on his worn couch. I was comfortable, feeling oddly at ease around the temperamental red head. Maybe because he had brought me into his home, yelled at me for risking hurting my arms by making omelets, and helped me massage lotion onto my scarred skin. I wasn't quite comfortable with how my arms looked, remembering thinking they looked like white gloves with jagged edges and ripped pieces of them up my arms.

Even with that interesting comparison, it didn't ease my discomfort with the new appearance of my arms. Then, a sudden realization struck me. Pulling my hand out of Gaara's grip I flipped over my arms, staring at my white wrists that matched the rest of the scarred section of my arms. "Gaara!" I shouted, enthusiasm filling my voice. "They're gone! They're gone!" I jumped up from the couch, quickly flipping my arms around.

He stood up abruptly, staring at me. "Sakura? What's gone?" On a whim influenced by my ecstatic state I threw myself to Gaara, throwing my arms around his torso and burying my head in his chest. He froze, his body tensing slight, but I ignored it.

"The scars on my wrists, they're gone."


	9. Nothing Alike

Gaara looked down at me dumbounded for several moments. I stepped back from him and returned to frantically flipping my arms around and screeching. He slowly seemed to start understanding my excitement as calm enveloped his face while he waited for me to relax. Slowly my actions slowed and I just continued to stare at the undersides of my wrists. "They're...really gone."

Gaara nodded with a smirk. "And you're really here, away from you father. Looks like your life is slowly breaking off from that bastard." I felt a twinge of joy as he said that, realizing he was right. I was losing connection with my father slowly. The scars that had cursed me to be ignored by out shitty police force were gone, I had riskily disobeyed him and disappeared into the house of a redhead who had been training me, and I hadn't given him my winnings. While I had lost my fight, I still received money for fighting and for how well I had hell up against a bitch who spewed flames, they really were winnings. A sudden rush of feeling enveloped my. In a rare procedure that happened to me sometimes, several thoughts rushed through my mind at once. First, that maybe I was safe here where I was staying with a rough and well trained fighter. Second, that maybe things were finally getting better for me. And third, that Gaara was the best thing that had happened to me.

For a second I tried to deny the third thought, but with some relfection I realized it was true. Gaara had, as cliche as it sounded, saved me. He had trained me into a woman with the fighting skills of a proffessional. I had been good before him, and amazing after him. My kicks didn't slightly throw me off balance anymore, I used the pressue of the contanct against the other person to keep myself upright and if I missed I just followed the kick through and mixed in a punch to use the momentum. My punches were fast and sharp, leaving little room for them to be blocked. He had just been there, a presence in my life that gave me the courage to try and get away from my father. Though whenever I seriously thought about it I doubted it, in the back of my mind I felt that he would back me up if I was in a corner. And most importantly, he had taken the risk with me no one else had, he had shoved his way into world and forced me to be honest.

While that scared me, it was also comforting to know that I alone didn't carry the burdens of my past. "Gaara?" I asked cautiously.

He stared at me for a moment before asking, "What?"

"Thank you." He looked completely caught off guard by that, and I almost laughed at the cute, confused expression his face took on. Then, a sobering thought hit me. He had probably never been thanked before. That pulled the goofy grin right off my face as those ever-lingering depressing thoughts tried to invade my mind. First came that I was wrong to follow Gaara and risk his safety. Second was that I was just as my father had always said, a selfish bitch. Third, I needed to get out of there right away. Last and definitly scarriest, if Gaara really was matched with my father in strength as I believed, could he hurt me just as badly? At that thought I took a sudden, rushed step backwards and tripped over what seemed soft enough to be a couch pillow. I hit the floor, but continued to scrambled backwards until my back slammed into the falling apart bookshelf. In the back of my mind I registered the shelves hitting my spine and a sharp pain, but in my panic it didn't mean much.

"Sakura!" Gaara shouted, his eyes flashing with a look of..._panic? _I didn't even notice why he was so worried when I felt the bookshelf swayed, but I felt the adrenaline kick in when the bookshelf pitched forward and my mind realized I was going to get crushed. I saw a flash of red and then books were pouring down on me like rain, but I didn't feel the shelf hit my head like expected. When the books stopped I was greeted with the sight of Gaara holding up the bookshelf by the top shelf, glaring at me. "Move." He commanded.

With my adrenaline kick gone and no immediate danger seeming possible, I didn't move. I was still scared. "Sakura, **move**!" At his loud voice I flinched and crawled out from under the bookshelf. He, with a grunt, slowly eased the bookshelf back in place. He then studied it for a moment, seeming to be checking to make sure it would stay, before his gaze turned to me. "What the fuck was that about?" He snarled, suddenly advancing towards me. I tried to scramble backwards again, but only a foot of scrambling led my back to a meeting with the wall. He continued to move in on me until my wrists, held delicately but firmly, were positioned above my head so I couldn't attack him.

I turned my face away from him, squeezing my eyes shut, but his hand was quickly on my chin jerking so I faced him again with closed eyes. "Sakura, open your damn eyes." I knew he was pissed, and that made my thoughts of him turning into my father even stronger.

"I'm scared." I spat out after several moments of silence. His grip loosened at my words, signaling to me he was surprised by my answer. I, with hesitation, opened my eyes to see him staring into my eyes with a hurt expression. I decided to try and explain, quickly realizing how stupid I had been to think Gaara was anything like my father. "I mean, in my mind you're stronger than my father and can-if worst comes to worst-maybe help me with him. But then I started thinking that if you were as strong as him, would you use your strength the same way and I got scared thinking I had moved from one abusive home to another."

His hurt expression only deepened, letting me know I had said the wrong thing. "You put me in the same catagory as that fucking bastard?" His voice wasn't angry anymore, just dry and as hurt as his eyes. I shook my head, trying to blurt some excuse, but he turned away from me and kneeled down in the mass of books and began gathering them up. I scooted forward to help and glanced up at the bookshelf, freezing when I saw its current contents and why Gaara had wanted me out from under it.

Restrained against the back of the bookshelf by thin string were several weapons including a small handgun as well as a large, hunting knife. Then, the hunting knife was suddenly the large kitchen knife that haunted my nightmares and rested in the back of my mind. With a small, pathetic whimper I stared at it, images of myself hanging like my mother and Gaara holding the steak knife like my father. That image was enough to resurface the panic I thought had been banished by Gaara's hurt expression. I closed my eyes, feeling as helpless as ever to the torture my mind caused me.

I had always strongly believed in the idea that you were your own worst enemy. "Gaara." I called through my frenzy of fear. He turned to me with a frustrated expression, but it dropped into something I didn't recognize on him as soon as he laid eyes on me. "Gaara, I'm really sorry. I didn't...I didn't mean to make you out like him. I just can't ever let him go." He gently set down the books in his hand. "He will never go away, always lingering in the back of my thoughts if he isn't already front and center. I just want it all to go away." I knew I was getting hysterical, but I didn't care. I wanted everything to get better. It wasn't fair that nothing in my life was okay.

Gaara slowly moved to my side, softly placing his arm around my shoulders. I slumped against him, realizing I was crying when I saw the small wet spots on his t-shirt. I hated it. I hated that Gaara always saw the worst of me and it never seemed to bother him, while it immensly frustrated me. At that moment, my head on Gaara's shoulder and my arms wrapped around myself, I realized I didn't deserve any of it. I didn't deserve the training, hospitality, or comfort. That was my last thought before exhaustion's clutches got a hold on me and I went under the spell of sleep.

* * *

><p>Gaara POV<p>

Had she really just thanked me? _Why? _I was jerked from my thoughts when I heard something hit the bookshelf. I looked up to see Sakura pressing herself into the wobbling bookshelf. "Sakura!" I shouted, concerned that the bookshelf's contents would spill down on her.

I jumped forward, bracing my hands on the bookshelf to stop it from falling over on her. As the books from the shelf poured down on her, I could only hope those were the only things falling on her. When the last book had slipped from its place on the shelf and tumbled to the floor, I felt relief to see that my concealed weapons were still in place. I then told her, "Move." When she remained frozen in place I spoke to her in a louder voice, the worry of my weapons falling returning. "Sakura, **move**!"

"What the fuck was that about?" I asked, my words coming out harsher than I'd meant them to. I moved towards her, meaning to check for injuries, when she stared scrambling away from me until she hit the wall where I firmly grasped her wrists in one hand and pulled them above her head. She turned her face away from me but I used my available hand to pull her chin around so we were face to face again. "Sakura, open your damn eyes!"

"I'm scared!" She spat, stunning me momentarily before a dull ache filled my chest. Did she really think I'd hurt her? She slowly opened her eyes and what I felt must have been obvious because she starting spewing an excuse. "I mean, in my mind you're stronger than my father and can-if worst comes to worst-maybe help me with him. But then I started thinking that if you were as strong as him, would you use your strength the same way and I got scared thinking I had moved from one abusive home to another."

That was probably the worst thing she could have said. The aching in my chest worsened and I growled, "You put me in the same fucking catagory as that bastard?" I turned away from her and moved to start collecting the spilled books. I was raving in my head how I was nothing like Sakura's father when I heard her whimper my name. I looked back at her to find looking scared out of her wits and my heart dropped. I don't know why it hurt me so much to see her upset, but it did.

"Gaara, I'm really sorry. I didn't...I didn't mean to make you out like him. I just can't ever let him go." I gently set down the books in my hands. "He will never go away, always lingering in the back of my thoughts if he isn't already front and center. I just want it all to go away." Tears were gliding down her cheeks by the time she finished speaking and I slowly, as not to scare her, moved to her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Her body leaned against me as her eyelids flickered before sliding shut.

At that moment, I knew one thing. I wanted to her kill her father.


	10. Mine

**A/N: **(1) This is a reference from Ellen Hopkin's book _Impulse. _I've noticed something in this story I wanted to address. Just because someone is Bipolar doesn't mean they are a raving psycho as I portray Sakura's father. Sakura's father is the very worst of Bipolar, something I've dealt with and I understand quite well. If medicated, people with the disorder are like anyone else. I'm not saying without medication a Bipolar is a freak, but medication can help them with the difficult disease. While Bipolar hurts those around the one inflicted with it, the one with it is the one hurting the most and they just need support. (2) These are lyrics from Taylor Swift's song Mine. I'm not at all a country girl, just not really my genre, but I love that song. Seemed to kind of fit the moment too. Also, I'm sorry for disappearing for a month. My friend and I share a birthday (March 10th) so I was spazzing out about getting her a gift. We celebrated and I had my second intervention (2 interventions in three months, is that a record?) but this stuff isn't life threatening and not illegal, so no need to worry about this freak! So, things have been completely hectic with me. Hopefully things are going better for you guys!

Sakura POV

When I woke up, I was still in Gaara's living room, leaning against him. When I looked up his eyes were open and staring at me. "For this to work, we need to be honest with each other. You need to get it through that thick skull of yours that I'm not going to hurt you." I nodded, silently agreeing with him. Then, he brought up one beaten hand and brushed his fingertips over the scar on my forehead. "I want to know about your scars and where they came from so I can accept them as part of you."

I brought my hand up to my forehead, putting mine over his. "I got this one after I found my mother."

_Flashback_

_As I screamed I collapsed first to my knees and then crumpled into a ball on the floor, blood still falling on me. I screamed until my throat was raw and the tears stopped falling from my eyes. I just lied there, the image of my mother's mangled body burned into my mind._

_When I heard the front door being pushed open I lifted my head slightly. My father was dressed in slacks and a dress shirt, what he usually wore when going over buisness affairs about the gym._

_"Oh Saku, do you like it? I made the apartment so pretty. I finally got rid of that fucking whore and now we can be happy." At this I sat up and scooted away from my father, terrified of his more threatening than usual attitude. "Don't move away from me bitch!" He yelled, advancing towards me until his foot kicked something. He paused in his movement towards me to look down, spotting the bloody knife. "Well, this'll do just fine." He continued his advance, my body beginning to quake at the sight of the psychotic look in my father's eyes. "I'm going to make you pretty just like her."_

_He slashed my forehead with the knife causing me to cry out and put a hand to my bleeding forehead. I sat there, clutching my head as I waited for the next attack. When it didn't come I cracked open my eyes to see my father gently setting down the knife. He was crouched down at my level with his hand pressed over mine in a flash. "Oh honey, did you hurt yourself?" He asked, concern showing in his eyes._

_"I don't like it when you call me a bitch." I told him, hoping that he would listen to my request since he had calmed down._

_"I never called you that. Now, tell daddy what happened to your head. It's a pretty nasty cut." I just stared at him, bewilderment evident on my face, before quietly answering a few moments later._

_"I fell."_

_End Flashback _

The red head visibly winced as I told my tale, but I was so used to things like that I had grown to expect it over the years. The calm established in my life by Gaara seemed foreign to me, but I enjoyed every bit of it. "Can we be done for today?" He nodded, and I was relieved. I was testing the water and they remained still, but behind my walls were secrets strong enough to cause a tsunami. (1) Gaara let out a long sigh, dropping his head down to rest on my shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing to me? You've got me wanting to smash in your father's face. It'd even be worth it if I ended up in jail." I was shocked, never before having heard Gaara show any concern, even if it was in his own violent manner.

"I don't know. You're the once changing everything I know." I whispered back, feeling if I spoke too loudly I might shatter the moment. I wasn't scared of him in the same way as before. It wasn't fear of what he'd do to me, but what he might _feel _for me. I wasn't exactly stable and handling a relationship could throw me over the edge of sanity into the trapping clutches of insanity. I'd always been scared of that. Becoming like my father. When I had told Gaara I feared weakness and loss of control, those were the main traits I saw in my father.

My father was too weak to stand up like a man and handle his problems, so he unleashed his anger on me. My father had no control over his life because he let alcohol and his bipolar disorder drive it. Secretly, my worst fear was becoming anything like him. I would kill myself on the spot if I ever saw any similarities between the two of us. I knew if I voiced my fear, Gaara would shoot it down, but inside I worried I could become like my father. It was one of those things you knew were ridiculous, but you just couldn't shake them.

Gaara let out another, quieter sigh. "I think you should stay here."

I laughed quietly, replying, "I already am."

"Permanently. Or at least until you find another stable place to stay I approve. I won't have my fighter living in shitty conditions." He said the last part hastily, and I secretly hoped it was something he had tacked on the end of what he was saying to make it seem less intimate. I nodded my head, my cheek rubbing against his shoulder. Feeling the warmth radiating off him, I couldn't help but snuggle in a little closer. I, Sakura, Haruno, was-in a way-cuddling. It was rather surprising. Before Gaara, I had been a resentful and angry person with a strong hate for men and a special distaste for _fighter _men.

Now, sitting on the living room floor of Gaara's living room, I was whispering and hoping he felt for me what I was developing for him. I had grown soft. With I groan I pushed myself up to a crouching position and then used the couch to pull myself into a standing position. I then set to work cracking my limbs body, mainly my back since my odd sleeping position had stiffened it. I turned back to Gaara then, setting my hands on my hips. "Can I get a shower?"

"Sure. I'll start breakfast." He jumped to his feet gracefully and lumbered into the kitchen, yanking open cabinets. The gentle moment from only seconds before fading back into the normal way we acted around one another. I searched around for my bag, finding it by the door; before I went into the bathroom with one last glance at the red head I had come to love so mu-_LOVE? _My mind broke out in frenzy at that single word, working overtime to search for the root of that mistake.

That was when it hit me, it wasn't a mistake, but something that had developed through Gaara's constant attempt to keep me safe and help me through the dark parts of my life. I stepped into the bathroom and gave a light push on the door to close it. I couldn't help the idiotic grin that broke across my face quickly, staring it in the mirror as I pinned my hair up with a few bobby pins and stripped down. _Gaara is important to me, _I realized. I knew that would make things harder, earning me a weak point, but somehow it felt worth it. This giddy feeling streaking through me at the moment at the realization I had found something _worth living for_.

_You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter_

_You are the best thing that's ever been mine (2)_

I climbed into the shower, letting the cold water splash down on my face as I closed my eyes. I could hear Gaara in the next room, cursing out the stove as he burned whatever we were supposed to eat. After hearing a particularly bizarre string of curses, I couldn't help myself and let out a burst of laughter. It felt odd, yet completely amazing to be so lighthearted and free of looking over my shoulder every step I took. I scrubbed the soap I had discovered on the side of the tub against my skin. After my skin was adequately clean I pulled my hair down and washed it with the available shampoo and conditioner. That was how that little **sneak **had such soft hair! Mentally rolling my eyes at myself I finished cleansing my hair and climbed out of the shower.

I realized I didn't have my bag with me and was about to call out to Gaara when I noticed the bathroom door was cracked open. A pair of grey sweats and a white t-shirt were on the counter along with a pair of plaid boxer short. I smiled, knowing I would look absolutely ridiculous in his giant clothes. I quickly put them, very conscious of the fact I didn't have a bra and how awkward that would be, but I refused to put back on my dirty one.

I slipped out of the bathroom with my dirty clothes bunched in my arms to see Gaara glaring at the stove and cursing at it. "Now look here you mechanical piece of shit, I'm supposed to be cooking, so you need to work. Sakura is hungry; I'm supposed to fix that with food. If I don't fix that with food I will be hit and she hits fucking hard!"


	11. Please Don't Leave Me

**A/N: DO NOT KILL ME! I honestly didn't think anyone liked this story so I found a way to wrap it up but I was shocked when I got three reviews that were asking me to continue this so I edited the ending and the show will go on. I want to specifically thank MizukiXSuzumiya whose review just stunned me. I didn't think people would get emotionally invested in this story. And please don't stop loving apple pie, that stuff is amazing! So thank you guys and this is no longer the end!**

That night when we came back from the gym I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I was living with Gaara. He had dropped me off next the elevator before telling me to meet him at the apartment and heading out to park the car. I, being the impatient idiot I was, jiggled the doorknob when I got there and received the shock of a lifetime when the door swung open. My heartbeat picked up and I became fearful of what I would find inside. I knew I should wait for Gaara, that thought registered in the back of my mind, but somehow the idea never fully occurred to all of my brain because I poked the door open and walked in. I was horrified to see everything ransacked.

Dishes were smashed and the bits were scattered across the floor. Pots and pans had been tossed around carelessly and lay at random places around the room. The couch was overturned and the safe had been kicked to the side. To complete the picture the bookcase was on the ground with books spilled everywhere. _The weapons! _Was my first thought at the sight of the bookcase and I suddenly realized the thief could have taken Gaara's guns and knives.

I then realized I hadn't even seen the rest of the apartment. I bolted towards the bedroom to find the mattress overturned along with all the sheets spilled across the floor. The dingy nightstand's drawers had been ripped out and lie on the floor with their contents spilled around them. The small closet's sliding doors were off their hinges and lay against the bed frame. Clothes, as few as there were, were haphazardly placed around the room making it seem the thief had gone into and just thrown clothes backwards from the closet.

Finally I moved to the bathroom. I focused on the medicine cabinet to find that everything in it had been yanked out and thrown into the sink, some of it sliding all the way over to the toilet. When I heard movement my heard jumped and I looked from the toilet to the shower to see the shadow of a figure standing there. I let out a scream, my voice ripping through the small apartment. The figure, deciding their cover was blown, threw back the shower curtain and leapt at me leaving me only seconds to realize it was my father and he had a knife. The kitchen knife.

"C'mere bitch! I'm going to turn you into a decoration just like your mother! You thought you'd get away but you'll never escape me! You hear me? **Never!**" I screamed again, praying Gaara would hurry up. Over and over again his name raced through my head as I struggled with my father. We rolled around on the bathroom floor, taking turns slamming into the wall of sink as we fought for control of the knife. At one point he gained the upper hand and I had to dodge as the knife came down towards my face, digging into the tile where I'd been seconds before.

He let out an animalistic screech of fury and his movement sped up. I managed to dart out from under him when he pulled back for a hard swing and I pushed myself to my feet on wobbly legs. I stumbled as quickly as I could towards the front door but halfway there he tackled from behind. I was thrown to the floor, smacking my face against the hard floor and landing my body in dishes shards. My vision momentarily blurred but the adrenaline rushing though my veins forced me to turn over and grab his arm before he stabbed the knife into the back of my head. I brought up a knee quickly into his groin and he grunted in pain. I crawled backwards away from him, hysteria setting in as I began to sob loudly with wheezing breaths.

He came at me again and my strength abandoned me in the moment I needed it most. He was so close when Gaara came to my mind and I felt stronger, knowing I somehow had to survive. I swung my right leg up and it collided with his face sending him sideways into the kitchen island. I screamed again, the hysterics still coming on strong. That was when my savior showed up, the door swinging open to reveal Gaara standing there with a horrified expression. He immediately bolted towards the bookcase and my father must have realized his time was running short because he moved towards me again. Gaara lifted the bookcase and ripped out the handgun as my father closed in. He cocked the gun and pulled the trigger just as my father dove for me.

All fell silent after that and all I could focus on was the unmoving weight laying on me. I shoved my father's body off me, getting some of the blood running from his chest on my hands in the process. I let out a shrill screech, letting hysteria take over because the immediate danger had passed. Gaara quickly moved to her side, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to his chest. She grabbed handfuls of his shirt in her hands, continuing to screech and cry.

~.Seven~.Months~.Later~.

Gaara smiled as he pulled into his parking space. He was extremely please with himself since he had finally gotten Sakura to go talk to a therapist about everything she had endured. She had probably gotten home from her appointment about twenty minutes before and he had stopped on his way home to pick up her recently discovered favorite dessert, apple pie. While nothing overly romantic had happened between them in the past months of their living together, they shared a bond that could not have been severed.

More than once he had asked the stubborn pinkette to marry him, but she would always reply with, "Not yet. I need to know you really want to spend the rest of your life with me." He had tried to convince her that he did in words, but she claimed only in time together could he prove to her she wasn't just a fling. He'd never heard of a seven month fling, but Sakura was Sakura and there was just no arguing with her.

As he unlocked their apartment door, saying their about anything always gave him a giddy feeling though he would never admit it, he called out to Sakura, "I'm home." When he got no reply he figured she was sleeping and after depositing the pie on the counter he entered their bedroom to find is worst nightmare. There, lying on the bed with a hole in her chest, gun in hand, and chest not rising was Sakura. He raced over to her and his eyes caught sight of a folded piece of paper.

Thinking it was some kind of note maybe explaining that it was all a joke he lunged for it and snatched it up. It was the closest thing to a suicide note he was probably going to find.

A prescription for lithium.

He fumbled with pulling his cell phone from his pocket before dialing 911. He held the phone between his shoulder and his ear as he began trying to revive Sakura. "Hello? Yes I need an ambulance at the Pines Apartment building...No you guys need to come I don't want to move her, room number 27...suicide attempt, she shot herself...okay." Gaara hung up and continued trying to save her. The calm collected attitude he had on the phone had disappeared as he burst into tears, the water streaming down his face. "You aren't going to leave me here alone. I won't let you."


	12. Welcome Back

**A/N: **Another chapter for my amazingly kind and generous readers! It feels so weird to be able to say I have readers. YAY! I've been actually having a really fantastic week (other than pulling my hip out of place, a medicaly phenomenon at my age) so I'm really happy!

Gaara stayed by her side gripping her hand in the ambulance, in the hospital, and through the twisting hallways of the sterile building, but he was forced to leave her side when they took her into surgery. Five security guards had to pry him away from her as he struggled and screamed, claiming she needed him. The guards dragged him away and threw him down on a plastic bench across from her surgery room telling him to stay put.

He dropped his head down into his hands, wails ripping through his throat as his mind reviewed the images of lifeless Sakura and brought forth the idea of living without Sakura. After half an hour of waiting he pulled his phone from his pocket and called Naruto as well as Temari and Kankuro. He didn't want to be here all alone waiting for news on Sakura's condition. When the three arrived he began spewing out everything that had happened. Sure he'd gone to the gym with Sakura and they'd seen everyone, but her had never found it important to tell them everything that had occurred.

"And now she's in there and I just can't live without her," he concluded before returning his head to its cradle between his hands.

Naruto put a comforting hand in his shoulder, the blond having started crying almost immediately after the start of the story when he'd heard about everything that had happened while he hadn't been with her. "She's lived through hell and survived. One bullet can't kill her." Temari stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Gaara as she knelt beside him. The red head couldn't help but to lean into her comforting warmth in the time where he kept feeling Sakura's cold skin against his again. It made his skin crawl and his hands found themselves gripping his hair tightly.

As they all waited silently together, Kankuro standing off to the side with his arms crossed tensely, Temari holding him close with tears in his eyes, and Naruto standing beside him with his hand on his shoulder and tears pouring down his cheek, they all worried over the pink haired girl. When the 'In Surgery' light above the surgery room flickered off they were all on their feet crowding the door with Gaara in the lead instantly. The first surgeon to walk out was grabbed by his collar roughly by Gaara and pulled aside before being slammed against the nearest wall.

"How is she?" Gaara asked in his exhausted and raspy voice. The doctor was obviously used to panicked and sometimes violent people awaiting news on surgeries because his expression remained calm.

"She lost a considerable amount of blood and managed to collapse one of her lungs, but we repaired the lung and performed a blood transfusion after reviving her. She will be in a medically induced coma for the next couple days, but when she awakens she will be fine and probably able to be released from the hospital. I do recommend she do counseling because it was a suicide attempt and those are always delicate situations." Gaara loosened the grip more and more after every word the doctor said and eventually put him down.

"Look buddy, I know what happened and why she's in hear. I just need to talk to her." Gaara ran a hand through his hair, relief making him want to fall to his knees and thank whatever greater force had helped bring Sakura back to him. Instead he jerked his head around when he heard the sound of a gurney to see Sakura's _breathing _body being wheeled out of the surgery room towards the hospital rooms. He sprinted over to hers and took her hand that wasn't attached to an IV in his. His eyes focused on her pale face and obsessed over the fact that her eyes were closed but she wasn't **dead**. He was so thankful, because he couldn't imagine going back to his life without her.

He refused to move from her side and anyone who even opened their mouth to or had the appearance of wanting to protest was silenced by a growl and deadly glare. He knew Sakura would have smacked him over the head for his rude behavior, but she wasn't there at the moment and manners were the last thing on his mind at the time. When they finally got to a hospital room Gaara continued to hold her hand forcing doctors to work around him while he pulled a chair up to her bedside. He stared at her face and felt burning in the backs of his eyes.

"Get out," he growled at the nurse still checking over Sakura. She gave him a surprised look but Gaara glared at her causing her to scurry out at a top speed. The door had just closed behind the woman when he felt the tears slipping down his cheeks and watched them drop down onto Sakura's bed sheets. "Dammit Sakura. What the hell were you thinking? You scared the fucking hell out of me! Do you know what it felt like to go in there and find you with that bullet in your chest? Y-you can't leave me. I've found something better to live for and I'm not ready to let it go, to let you go."

Everyone else stood outside Sakura's room door, listening to Gaara's heartfelt confession. Temari cried softly before smiling and announcing, "He finally got someone who will love him and deserves him as much as he deserves them. Let's head out now. I think they'll need some alone time when she wakes up and seeing how strong that girl is I can see her crawling out of bed in a few minutes.

They all shared a quiet laugh at that before heading out and leaving the red head to guard his pink haired goddess.

~.Four~.Days~.Later~.

Gaara gripped her hand in his tightly still, refusing to have ever let it go except for the daily bathroom break. He had gained some stubble and dark bags under his already dark eyes, but it was a small price to pay for being there when she woke up. She had been taken off the medicine putting her in the coma the day before and the doctor had told him they sometimes stayed in the system for up to a week. He had rolled his eyes at that, knowing Sakura would be awake and walking the day after being taken off them. She was Sakura and somehow managed to overcome any challenge and surpass any expectation ever set for her.

He was just beginning to doze off, the little of sleep getting to him, when he felt a soft squeeze on his hand. His eyes immediately flew open to see beautiful emerald eyes staring back at his though slightly clouded. "Sorry, were you trying to sleep?"

He was practically on top of her seconds later, pressing kisses to every inch of her face and murmuring thanks to no one in particular as he leaned over her bed holding her face in his hands. Eventually he settled and placed his forehead against hers with a soft smile. "You are in big trouble. You scared me nearly to death when I found you. Do you realize you've gotten me addicted to you and losing you is the worst possible thing that could happen to me?"

Suddenly Sakura averted her eyes and whispered, "You saw the prescription, didn't you?"

Gaara frowned and sternly replied, "Yeah. So what?"

"Gaara, I'm just like him. I'm just as crazy as that bastard! On the way from my appointment everything just came crashing down on me. I don't want to have to pop pills just to feel okay or be normal. I can't be a mother because I'll hurt my kids! I can't be with you because I'll hurt you! If not physically then emotionally!" She was sobbing by the time she was done, her eyes pouring out waves of tears that Gaara attempted to kiss away.

"No, no, no babe!" He'd never been one for pet names, but pushing his affection for her seemed important at the moment. "You don't need to take anything to be absolutely perfect! And you'll be a fine mother! I know you'll never lay a hand on our kids because you'll be too busy babying them while I attempt to stop you from making them pampered wimps! And while you think you can, you can't hurt me unless you try to repeat that killing yourself shit. I can't live without you and don't you forget it!"

Sakura looked stunned and he expected stubborn Sakura to give some crazy rebuttal, but instead managed to surprise him. "You want to have kids with me...?"

"Kami yes! I want to have kids with you, I want to marry you, and I want to die by your side listening to you bitch at me!" Sakura had to smile through her tears at the last comment and even attempted a laugh. She would have succeeded had her chest not hurt by doing so. "You take it easy. The next time we're coming back to the hospital is for an ultrasound or for the birth of our kid."

Sakura smiled at that, reaching out and putting her hands gently on each of his cheeks before pulling his face to hers and placing a kiss on his lips. "I promise not to kill myself if you promise to never leave me." Gaara scoffed at her but she stared him down.

"You make things to easy. Promise." He linked his pinky with one of hers and pulled her hand away from his face to hold it in the air between them. "This is probably the lease manly thing I've ever done."

"Other than bawling your eyes out screaming for Sakura in the middle of a hospital?" A voice asked and they both turned to see Kankuro standing in the doorway. Quickly Temari came into view and smacked him over the head causing the brown haired boy to wince and hold his aching head.

"That was romantic you clueless moron! The only thing you're going to get for cute things, make up, and the offer to play dolls is a little girl stalking you!" Temari then turned to Sakura and stormed towards her making the pink haired girl blink and lean away from the scary blond. "And as for **you**! Don't you ever fuck up like this again or you'll get to the afterlife to find me waiting with an ax to take your head off! Gaara was a complete mess without you! I understand your childhood is a sob-story and a half but suck it up, princess! Gaara's life was hard too so you two just need to lean on each other!"

The way she was leaning towards Sakura, finger pointed at her and scowl on her face as she yelled, Sakura thought she was going to hit her and flinched when the blond moved towards her. Gaara obviously thought so because he jumped up to intervene but instead Temari threw her arms around Sakura and pulled her into a suffocating hug. "I've never seen Gaara love something so much before. Treat him well." Gaara growled at her, obviously embarrassed by her motherly behavior, but did not attempt to drag Temari off Sakura.

Naruto entered soon after Temari stepped away from Sakura slurping from a juice pouch that he promptly finished and tossed over his shoulder at the pouting Kankuro. "Sakura-chan!" He sprinted to her and leapt across her bed to tackle her into a hug. "You made me so scared!" he whimpered and began crying fat, dramatic tears. She just continued to smile and wrapped her arms around him and looked at Gaara.

"I'm sorry."


	13. Okay

**A/N: **Thank you guys for your awesome support! Not sure where I'm going to take things from here, but I'm open to suggestions! If you guys don't send any in it's alright, I'll work it out. I'll wanr you though, depending on the idea I choose the lifespan of this story may not be much longer. Enjoy!

The blindfold over her eyes was beginning to itch and Sakura asked, "Can I take this damn dishtowel off my eyes now?" She was quickly silence with a rejected of her want and she grumbled, folding her arms across her chest. She had been released from the hospital only hours before and had found it odd that Gaara had taken her around town, first forcing her to have lunch a noodle stand before taking her shopping. In one of her rare more feminine moments she had raided the whole mall, finding all kinds of new clothing and setting aside her suspicions.

They were now back full blown since entering the car after the shopping trip. Gaara had tied a dishtowel over her eyes and told her to not to peek before turning the key in the ignition and driving off. She had been nervous, but calmed herself by chanting, _I trust Gaara. I love Gaara. Gaara loves me._

When they had arrive at their destination Gaara had run around the car and opened her door before helping her out and guiding her into a building. There weren't any specific sounds that could help her identify their location. When his hands had dropped from her shoulders she had almost panicked, but he called to her to stay there before running away. Now she stood, unable to see, listening to Gaara set something up. There were shuffling sounds as well as whispering sounds that only further confused her.

When she felt Gaara's rough hands untying the towel she jumped slightly in surprise and she wasn't prepared for what was revealed to her. In front of her was a young red haired woman that wore a shy smile and who had tears in her eyes. Something about the woman was familiar and as she raced towards Sakura, the pink haired girl didn't flinch away even when the stranger wrapped her arms around her. "Sakura!"

Sakura looked over the woman's shoulder to see Gaara standing against the ring smiling. That when she realized they were at the gym and she glanced around to see everyone there, all standing back smiling at her. "Gaara?" Sakura whispered cautiously and the red head's grin only grew wider.

"Sakura, meet your mother." Sakura broke into disbelieving gasps, her mouth alternating between gaping open and snapping shut.

"Gaara, you know as well as I do that my mother is dead," Sakura protested, but like an old film shaky memories of the woman holding her played in her mind.

"Sakura, baby, I never wanted to give you up, but your father was much older and I was only fifteen when you were born. I gave custody of you over and went on with my life, but in the last couple years of my life as things have settled down after I got my masters and finished college seven or so years ago, I started thinking about you." The woman had lifted her head and stepped back from Sakura slightly, keeping her hands on Sakura's shoulders. "I wanted to find you so badly so during the last couple years when I've been settling down I tried as hard as I could to find you."

Gaara stepped forward at that point, moving to Sakura's side. "When you were born, before your father was given custody, we wrote a will together. I legally shouldn't have been part of it, but we had a child and had to decide what would happen to you if we were to die."

Gaara took over then, moving over and wrapping an around Sakura's waist as the woman stepped back and crossed her arms with a smile. "Your dad was more of an idiot that anyone could have guessed. He never got the will re-done so when I talked to the cops and gave my statement about his death, I asked if you were to inherit anything. The least the bastard could have done it leave you something nice. That was when they told me that what had been promised to you could not be given until the mother was contacted since the will was so old."

"Gaara asked some questions and ended up getting in contact with me and told me everything. Baby, I'm so sorry that he wasn't the man I thought he was, I'm so sorry I left you with that abusive...monster." The woman who had now been established as Sakura's mother broke into sobs and she pressed her hands to her mouth in an attempt to ease her cries.

"So who was the woman my father killed?" Sakura asked, still trying to comprehend she had a _very much alive_ **mother**.

"Baby, that was just some girl he picked up one night who ended up sticking around. I know that doesn't help erase finding her dead and everything, but she was never your mother," her mother whispered and Sakura looked to Gaara for assurance.

"Gaara, is this all...?"

"True? Yeah. I got her number from the cop who took my statement and contacted her. Just another reason you aren't ever again going to scare me like you did, _right_?" Sakura could only nod as tears pricked at her eyes making her lift her sleeve up to wipe them away. She couldn't stop that no matter how much she tried and Gaara came up to her and pulled her to his chest, shushing her and rocking her side to side as she wrapped her arms around his torso. "Sh, we're all here and I promise nothing will happen to you ever again, alright?"

Sakura nodded again before laughing through her tears, detaching herself from Gaara to run over to her mother and pull her into a hug. "I've missed you, baby." Everyone there began to clap, their happiness echoing through the room. Naruto stepped forward and Sakura slipped away from her mother while keeping their hands linked.

"I vote we have a celebratory fight!" There were cheers of agreement and Sakura grinned, excited at the prospect of getting to fight after so long of being kept away from the ring.

Sakura climbed up to the ring and was slightly surprised when Gaara followed. "Hey, I've got to live with you so I need to show you who's boss." She just shook her head and dropped down into her stance with her fists raised and in front of her face. When the bell chimed she flew at him, patience not being her best trait at the moment.

He easily dodged to the right causing her to have to throw herself back to avoid his returning punches. She fell onto the mat on her back and used the momentum to roll herself over and jump back up into a standing position. She earned an amused smirk from Gaara when she did that and it only made the feeling of euphoria pulsing through her veins stronger, the day having been amazing to the point of seeming fake. She threw out a leg at his knees to try and make them collapse but he blocked her kick with one of his own.

He then moved onto offense, coming at her with several right hooks and a couple sharp lefts. She dodged most of them but was caught by one of his lefts that came at a surprising speed and stumbled slightly, disoriented momentarily. He took that moment to come at her, fists raised. She expected an onslaught of attacks but instead he kicked her legs out from under her sending her lying on her back. He then crawled up on top of her and gently kissed her lips, grinning at her as she smiled back.

"Ewww!" Naruto yelled and Gaara pulled back from her, smirking. He got to his feet and offered his hand to her before pulling her up beside him. He wrapped his arms around her, tucking her under his chin as his smirk softened into a gentle smile.

"You're going to be okay. _We're _going to be okay."


	14. Shower Surprise

****A/N: **Took a while as well as many edits, a lot of blushing, and quite a few of soda breaks to pause and convince myself to continue writing.**

**EDIT: 7.16.12., thank you to a guest reviewer for pointing out Sakura and Gaara had left the water on because it would suck if their apartment became flooded.**

The warm water cascaded down from the shower head and eased my muscles in a burning hot massage. I heard the door creak open, but ignored the noise thinking Gaara was dropping off clothes or something else on the bathroom sink. I was far past shocked when I heard the shower curtain rustle and felt two arms slide around my sides near my breasts to hold out their palms under the warm water. Quickly a chisled chest was pressed against my back and a head was buried in the crook of my neck.

I forced myself to stay calm even though my body was on high alert. The arms pulled back, brushing against my breasts, before the hands gripped my hips and pulled me back tighter against the man teasing me. Then those very hands began to rub cirlces on my hips causing me to bite my lip in an attempt to not moan loudly. I refused to give into his wants so quickly. Just to piss him off, I reached down and grabbed the shampoo, conviently pressing my ass into his already hardening manhood, before continuing my regular shower routine. I heard a low growl from the mouth pressed against my pulse, but I pretended to be oblivious.

I was forced to pay attention to the red head, though, when he yanked me back against him before pressing his mouth against my ear and forcing my head sideways slightly. "Having fun you little tease?" I knew he wasn't going to treat me like glass or hold back, and somehow that excited me. For good measure I ground my ass against his dick a couple times to really get him hot and bothered. He let out a sound that was a mixture of a growl and a low moan. He slipped an arm around my waist and slid his hands down my hips toward my core before stopping and dragging his hands back up. He repeated this action until I was desperately panting.

"Touch me." I hissed, my eyes almost rolling back in my head when he came particularly close to my womanhood. The next time his hands came close I ground my hips back into him and let a low moan. That seemed to push him over the edge because he whipped me around and smashed his lips against mine. My hands quickly became tangled in his mess of red hair. His hand dipped down to inject two fingers into me and I let out a low moan, reveling in how amazing it felt.

He grinned at his obvious power over me but his amusement was cut short when I wrapped a slender hand around his painfully hard manhood. He growled and I smirked, gliding my hand up and down his slick member, wet from precum and water. Quickly I could tell he was getting excited and he stopped pumping his fingers in me and removed my hand from his erection. His hands came to support me under my ass, lifting me up so I wrapped my legs around his waist. He stepped out of the shower while flicking off the water, me still attached to him, and quickly made his way out of the bathroom.

He took us across the hall to his bedroom, quickly moving over to the bed and leaning over so I fell to the bed and he held himself up over me. He let a feral grin spread across his face and I returned it. He slid down my body until his mouth was at the level of my womanhood. He nuzzled it, eliciting a moan from me, before begining to thrust into me with his tongue. I gripped the sheets tightly, arching my back with a loud moan. He smirked as he continued until I was thrown into a mind blowing orgasm that had me panting and seeing stars.

When I finally came down from it I found him patiently sitting at my entrance with a fully erect member. I nodded to him, giving him permission, before he thrust into me. I let out a whimper and his eyes widened since I had failed to mention I had managed to somehow keep my virginity in tact through everything else. He leaned down and kissed my cheeks gently, helping distract me. When I began to move, shifting him inside of me, he pulled back and slammed back in bringing to me a new sensation of pleasure. I threw my hands into his hair and tugged on it causing an anamalistic growl to rise from his throat.

I giggled at his happy reaction before continuing to kneed his hair while he thrust into me repeatedly. Too fast for my liking we were both panting and I could tell both of us were close to release. Just as I orgasmed, screaming loudly, I felt him yank himself out of me and warm sticky strings fell onto my body. I smiled at him through my exhaustion and he fell to the bed beside me before pulling me to him and wrapping his body around mine.

Just as his breathing evened out and he slipped into slumber I whispered, "I love you." before sleep took me too.

~.G~.A~.A~.R~.A~.

When I awoke and _my _beautiful woman was lying next to me, I couldn't stop the grin that spread across my face. I reached out and gently peeled back the comforter covering her chest, but not for round two. Instead I stared at the angry red scar on her chest, glaring back at me with the knowledge it was a reminder I hadn't been enough for her to live for. I knew it wasn't like that, that she wanted to die because she didn't want to hurt **me**, but everytime I thought about it all I could think was, 'I wasn't enough.'

I leaned forwards and pressed my lips to the scar, placing a soft kiss on it. Her eyes fluttered open when I did it and I continued smiling, watching her closely as she leaned down and placed her forehead against mine.

"Gaara, will things stay like this forever?" I stared into her eyes, slightly confused on why she was asking such a question.

"I hope so," I responded honestly and she nodded, still keeping out foreheads touching. In that delicate moment, I found hope for a beautiful future between the two of us.


End file.
